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INTENSIVE STUDIES IN AMERICAN
LITERATURE

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY

NEW YORK • BOSTON • CHICAGO • DALLAS
ATLANTA • SAN FRANCISCO

MACMILLAN & CO., LIMITED

LONDON • BOMBAY • CALCUTTA
MELBOURNE

THE MACMILLAN CO. OF CANADA, LTD.

TORONTO

INTENSIVE STUDIES IN
AMERICAN LITERATURE

ALMA BLOUNT, PH. D. (CORNELL)

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR OF ENGLISH IN THE MICHIGAN STATE
NORMAL COLLEGE

•Dforo f 0rk

THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
1914

BY THE MACMILLAN COMPANY
Set up and electrotyped. Published January, 1914.

TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER,

3f0H*pIj Untmt $L $.,

WHOSE APPRECIATIVE READING WAS
MY FIRST INSTRUCTION IN LITERATURE.

300054

PREFACE

Rhetoric and literary criticism have been so long and so
thoroughly discussed that it would be difficult to treat of
them in a strictly original manner. In the present volume
general indebtedness to the works enumerated in the Bib
liography to Part I will be evident, and there are, without
doubt, echoes of many other volumes that have been con
sulted in the years during which this text has been developing.
An attempt has been made to give specific credit wherever
possible. Professor Clark S. Northup of Cornell University
kindly read the manuscript and suggested improvement in
certain details. Doctor Ida Fleischer of the Michigan State
Normal College assisted in the proof-reading.

The selections from C. D. Warner's My Summer in a
Garden, Longfellow's Life, Letters, and Journal, Emerson in
Concord, and Scudder's Life of Lowell are used by permission
of, and by special arrangement with, Houghton Mifflin
Company, authorized publishers of these works. In the
course of the text courtesies are acknowledged to the following
publishers: Ginn and Company, D. Appleton and Company,
Doubleday, Page, and Company, Charles Scribner's Sons,
The American Book Company, Harper Brothers, Estes and
Lauriat, and The Macmillan Company.

vii

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

Every teacher of literature knows how often students
come unprepared to the class with the excuse, " I didn't know
how to go at the lesson." They have in their hands some
edition of a masterpiece, carefully annotated to explain
words and allusions, but failing to suggest any plan of study.
If the teacher has no time or opportunity to formulate such
a plan, the students probably gain only detached and frag
mentary notions of the classic, and no conception at all of
its purpose and value. The studies in this volume are in
tended to show the pupils one way "to go at" their work,
by outlining plans for the study of some of the masterpieces
most profitable for class work and most often used in the
high school class in American literature. The STUDIES are
the product of class-room experience, and have been found
practically useful as a means of inspiring in not a few young
persons an intelligent appreciation of good literature. It
may not be amiss to state here a few of the aims the volume
attempts to achieve.

1. It is not the intention that the book shall furnish the
student with material for memorizing — shall do his think
ing for him. It is the purpose, rather, to direct his thought
and work. The book is to point out to him the various fea
tures to which, in certain works of literature, he should give
his attention. It is expected that, through the study of
certain poems and stories and essays, he will form such

x SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

habits of reading and observation as will develop in him the
power to apply the same principles to other works, and to
analyze independently other classics of the same kind and
no greater difficulty. One test of the success of school work
and text-book direction in literature is the increase in the
student's power to read good books with understanding and
with pleasure.

2. An attempt is made in each one of these STUDIES to
emphasize the thought of the masterpiece, and to make that
the basis of work. Rhetorical devices are discussed not for
their own sake, but as means by which a certain thought
is well expressed, or a certain effect is successfully produced.

3. It is the endeavor of these STUDIES to keep the master
piece before the student as a unit, to emphasize the unifying
notion — "the informing spirit" that governs and gives life
to the expression. In the study of any work of art, the parts
must not be made so prominent as to seem greater than the
whole; rather, details, while not neglected, must be sub
ordinated to and blended into the effect and harmony of
the whole. It is a mistake to be so occupied with the trees
that one cannot see the forest. A literary classic must not
be made to appear a pot-pourri of figures, sentences, words,
strung together for their own sake, with little system and
no method. Therefore each masterpiece is here considered
first as a whole and last as a whole, that the unity of im
pression may not be lost.

4. This careful and detailed study of an author's works
must precede any intelligent general statements about his
style, and in classes of students sufficiently advanced may
properly be followed by a paper summarizing the results of
the study of the individual works. Such a paper will tell
how a writer commonly makes forcible, suggestive, and

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS xi

artistic the expression of his thought ; will set forth his usual
method (comparison and figure, specific word and epithet,
allusion, etc.) of developing his thought or calling up images
in the mind of the reader; and will treat of all such matters
of style as reveal the author's habit of mind. The student
will attain one of the most satisfying results of the study of
literature if he can come to know his author as an acquaint
ance and friend — can enumerate the qualities of his mind
and heart, as well as those of his art, and feel the influence
of his personality.

5. However thorough and conscientious may be the formal
study of a work of art, it yet leaves something to be desired —
an intimate and spiritual appreciation, without which the
best of formal work is vain and empty. The formal study
should help to prepare the mind and heart for such apprecia
tion by concentrating the attention on the beauty of the
conception and of its expression; but sympathy is not a
necessary or direct result of even good formal study. Every
intelligent being is more or less susceptible to the influence of
beauty, and this natural susceptibility may be cultivated.
The means of cultivation comes to most persons through the
influence of some personality. A text-book is, perforce, too
impersonal to furnish the atmosphere necessary for the most
complete and profitable study of any work of art. It is the
teacher's province to create this atmosphere in the class
room. The text-book relieves the teacher of careful and
troubled attention to many details and formal matters, that
he may give himself more freely to this better part. Love
of and enthusiasm for beauty are contagious; they are trans
mitted, indeed, rather by contagion than by direct instruc
tion. The ability to bring an inspiring atmosphere into the
class-room is a sine qua non for a teacher of art. A mechanical

xii SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

instructor teaches nothing really worth while in literature,
and no text-book can do for his class what his personality
should be able to do.

6. It is recommended that the students be encouraged
to look up critical estimates of a classic after it has been
studied carefully, never before. They will thus learn to
be independent in work and in judgment.

7. There are many good and inexpensive annotated edi
tions of some of the works discussed in this volume (e. g.,
Emerson's Essays and Poe's Tales), and the compiler of these
STUDIES has not thought it worth while to explain allusions
and references found in these pieces of literature. The neces
sary notes will naturally be in the hands of the students.
In all cases where the author of this book has, in her own
experience, found it difficult to obtain texts satisfactorily
annotated, she has furnished here notes and explanations
necessary for a complete study of detail.

8. In this volume reference is made, unless otherwise
stated, to lines of poetry and to paragraphs of prose. The
STUDIES are grouped for convenience under the authors of
the selections studied, and the authors are placed chiefly in
chronological order. Unless, however, the STUDIES are used
in connection with the history of American literature or to
bring out the distinctive style of the various writers, it may
be found more desirable to use them in connection with the
Rhetorical Introduction until the subjects of Meter and
Melody and Harmony have been discussed (see exercises
for practice after these topics in the Introduction), and after
the discussion of Figures of Speech to take up the easier
before the more difficult poems and stories, combining with
them the remaining sections of the Introduction. For ex
ample, Lanier's Tampa Robins should precede the more

SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS xiii

difficult poems of earlier writers, if nothing is to be con
sidered but the study of the poem itself.

9. Other groupings of material and innumerable other
exercises will readily occur to the teacher. For example,
various works of the same kind may be studied together.
The ballads of Longfellow, Lowell, and Whittier may be
compared with each other and with the Early English bal
lads; variations in style may be observed, and in some cases
reasons for such variations can be discovered. Again, com
parisons of authors on certain points of style may profitably
be made. Which depend most on epithets for effects? Which
on figures of speech? Which authors have the broadest
interests, and how do they show it? Which are most in
fluenced by Nature? Which by books and scholarship?
How do they show such influence — in choice of subjects,
in source of figures, in abundance of allusions, by imitation?
What mental qualities do all these peculiarities of style
reveal? For purposes of comparison, poems may be grouped
according to subjects, e. g., poems addressed to flowers by
several writers may be studied together to show how in
various ways to various persons

the meanest flower that blows can give
Thoughts that do often lie too deep for tears.

— WORDSWORTH.

Another exceedingly profitable exercise may be used for
training the frequently neglected ear to catch an author's
meaning and' method. After listening to a first reading by
the teacher of, say, Emerson's Each and All, the class should
be able to state clearly in a single sentence the central thought
of the poem; and on hearing it a second time, the teacher
having directed them to listen now for the poet's method,

xiv SUGGESTIONS TO TEACHERS

they should be able to discover that the theme is developed
by example, and to say which example is evidently the most
important one in the poet's mind — perhaps even the raison
d'etre of the entire poem.

10. Little attempt is here made to define formally the
rhetorical terms explained and used. The writer has found
that beginners do better to acquire familiarity with and
usage of technical terms rather through example and prac
tice than through formal definitions, which belong to later,
more philosophical study. It is believed, however, that
the less formal explanations of this volume are in accord
with the discussions to be found in the most scholarly of
advanced books on literary forms and criticism, and that
this volume will serve, therefore, for those students who
go on to a college course, as an introduction to more ad
vanced work. Neither do these discussions pretend to be
exhaustive, or to settle vexed questions. They are intended
merely to make the young student more sensitive to the
form and content of works of literature, in order that he
may read with greater profit and pleasure. The suggestions
for supplementary reading are intended to furnish a back
ground for the selections more carefully studied. In the
study of the history of American literature, the class should
have access also to some book (like Stedman's Anthology)
containing selections from minor poets, and of course to the
Stedman and Hutchinson Library of American Literature.
The various bibliographies are not intended to be complete,
but to name some books that have been found particularly
useful to young people.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART I
RHETORICAL INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I

INTRODUCTORY

PAGE

What Literature Is • 1

CHAPTER II

THE FORMS OF POETRY

Meter 5

Stanza and Rime 20

The Kinds of Poetry 25

CHAPTER III

MELODY AND HARMONY

Melody 30

Harmony 34

CHAPTER IV

THE SENTENCE

Loose and Periodic Sentences 39

Sentence Inversion 41

XVI TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

Long and Short Sentences 42

The Balanced Construction 42

Rhetorical Interrogation and Exclamation 44

CHAPTER V

DICTION

The Vocabulary 47

General and Specific Terms 48

Long and Short Words 50

Denotation and Connotation 51

Poetic Diction 53

CHAPTER VI

FIGURES OF SPEECH

Literal and Figurative Language 58

Figures of Comparison 59

Apostrophe and Vision 65

Figures of Association QQ

Some General Remarks on Figures 67

CHAPTER VII

VARIOUS QUALITIES OF STYLE AND KINDS OF WRITING

Wit and Humor 71

Pathos . . 74

Hyperbole 74

Irony, Sarcasm, Satire 75

CHAPTER VIII

Allusions and How to Study Them .... 77

TABLE OF CONTENTS xvii

CHAPTER IX

PAGE

Thought and Style 81

CHAPTER X
How to Study a Piece of Literature 9(D

PART II

INTENSIVE STUDIES

CHAPTER XI

WASHINGTON IRVING

Stratf ord-on-Avon 101

Westminster Abbey 104

CHAPTER XII

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

To a Waterfowl 109

Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood Ill

A Forest Hymn 113

Monument Mountain 114

The Antiquity of Freedom , 115

Thanatopsis 118

The Flood of Years 121

CHAPTER XIII

EDGAR ALLAN POE

The Bells 124

The Raven |v. 128

The Fall of the House of Usher . . .130

xviii TABLE OF CONTENTS

PAGE

A Descent into the Maelstrom 133

The Purloined Letter 136

The Gold-Bug 137

CHAPTER XIV

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

The Old Clock on the Stairs . . .- 143

My Lost Youth 146

Three Friends of Mine 148

The Arsenal at Springfield 150

The Skeleton in Armor 152

The Building of the Ship 155

The Hanging of the Crane 163

Morituri Salutamus 168

Keramos 172

CHAPTER XV

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

Telling the Bees. . .*. 180

The Huskers '. 183

The Eternal Goodness 185

Snow-Bound V 187

The Last Walk in Autumn 196

CHAPTER XVI

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

The Singing Leaves 205

The Shepherd of King Admetus - 207

An Incident in a Railroad Car jjf. 209

Rhoecus ' 211

To the Dandelion . . 213

TABLE OF CONTENTS xix

PAGE

The Nightingale in the Study 215

My Garden Acquaintance . . . . . 218

The Vision of Sir Launf al . . /<<\ 224

The Present Crisis 234

The Commemoration Ode . 240

CHAPTER XVII

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

The Chambered Nautilus . . . l^\ ............................ 252

The Voiceless ........................... . 256

CHAPTER XVIII

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

The Great Stone Face L/, 258

The Ambitious Guest 262

CHAPTER XIX

SIDNEY LANIER

The Song of the Chattahoochee 264

Tampa Robins 266

The Marshes of Glynn 267

CHAPTER XX

WALT WHITMAN

O Captain! My Captain! ;'. 271

When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom'd 273

Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rocking .277

xx TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER XXI

EALPH WALDO EMERSON

PAGE

Some Suggestions for the Study of Emerson's Essays 280

Friendship 282

Heroism 284

Character 287

Manners 290

Compensation 295

Self-Reliance 302

Culture 309

APPENDIX

I. A List of Essay Subjects 313

II. An Abstract of Forman's Greater Love „ . 324

III. Addison's Thoughts in Westminster Abbey 325

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

PAGE

The Shakespeare House, 1 facing 20
The Birth Room, I

Holy Trinity Church facing 40

The Chapel of Henry VII facing 60

The Poets' Corner facing 81

A Chart of Stratford 102

Charlecote Hall facing 103

A Plan of Westminster Abbey 104

Melrose Abbey facing 106

The Precipice facing 114

A Ship on the Blocks • • I57

The Lines of Lights on Harvard Bridge facing 167

Gerome's Ave Casar facing 168

The Potter at Work 174

A Well, Showing the Curb and Well-Sweep 189

The Whittier Birthplace, j .facing 190

The Whittier Kitchen, I

The Shell of the Nautilus 253

"The Old Man of the Mountains" facing 260

xxi

INTENSIVE STUDIES IN AMERICAN
LITERATURE

PART I
RHETORICAL INTRODUCTION

CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTORY — WHAT LITERATURE IS

If some one should ask us, "What are the text-books you
study in school good for?" we should not hesitate to reply,
"They teach us things we have not known before about
language, about the earth and the life upon it, about men
of past ages, about mathematical quantities." And it is
true that a great many of the books we study are written to
increase our knowledge.

But there are other books from which we may derive quite
as much benefit as from scientific books, and perhaps even
more pleasure, if we learn to use them properly; these are
books of literature. They are not intended primarily to
teach us facts, though in studying a book of literature we
may incidentally learn a great many facts. They are in
tended through harmonious language to present beautiful
images to the imagination, to suggest noble thoughts, and so
to lead us to broader and higher views of life. It is this pur
pose of elevating us through our emotions or sympathies that
distinguishes, fundamentally, books of literature from books
addressed merely to the intellect, like our text-books and
many other scientific works.

2 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

In his essay on The Poetry of Pope, De Quincey has this
to say about "The Literature of Knowledge and the Litera
ture of Power: "

In that great social organ which, collectively, we call literature,
there may be distinguished two separate offices that may blend and
often do so, but capable severally of a severe insulation, and naturally
fitted for reciprocal repulsion. There is, first, the literature of knowl
edge; and, secondly, the literature of power. The function of the first
is — to teach; the function of the second is — to move; the first is a rudder;
the second, an oar or a sail. The first speaks to the mere discursive
understanding; the second speaks ultimately, it may happen, to the
higher understanding or reason, but always through affections of plea
sure and sympathy. . . . Men have so little reflected on the higher
functions of literature as to find it a paradox if one should describe it as
a mean or subordinate purpose of books to give information. But this
is a paradox only in the sense which makes it honourable to be para
doxical. Whenever we talk in ordinary language of seeking information
or gaining knowledge, we understand the words as connected with
something of absolute novelty. But it is the grandeur of all truth which
can occupy a very high place in human interests that it is never ab
solutely novel to the meanest of minds: it exists eternally by way of
germ or latent principle in the lowest as in the highest, needing to be
developed, but never to be planted. To be capable of transplantation
is the immediate criterion of a truth that ranges on a lower scale. Be
sides which, there is a rarer thing than truth, — namely, power, or deep
sympathy with truth. What is the effect, for instance, upon society,
of children? By the pity, by the tenderness, and by the peculiar modes
of admiration, which connect themselves with the helplessness, with the
innocence, and with the simplicity of children, not only are the primal
affections strengthened and continually renewed, but the qualities which
are dearest in the sight of heaven, — the frailty, for instance, which
appeals to forbearance, the innocence which symbolizes the heavenly,
and the simplicity which is most alien from the worldly, — are kept in
perpetual remembrance, and their ideals are continually refreshed. A
purpose of the same nature is answered by the higher literature, viz., the
literature of power. What do you learn from Paradise Lost? Nothing at
all. What do you learn from a cookery book? Something new, some-

INTRODUCTORY — WHAT LITERATURE IS 3

thing that you did not know before, in every paragraph. But would you
therefore put the wretched cookery-book on a higher level of estimation
than the divine poem? What you owe to Milton is not any knowledge,
of which a million separate items are still but a million of advancing
steps on the same earthly level; what you owe is power, — that is, exer
cise and expansion to your own latent capacity of sympathy with the
infinite, where every pulse and each separate influx is a step upwards,
a step ascending as on a Jacob's ladder from earth to mysterious alti
tudes above the earth. All the steps of knowledge, from first to last,
carry you further on the same plane, but could never raise you one foot
above your ancient level of earth: whereas the very first step in power
is a flight — is an ascending movement into another element where earth
is forgotten.

We must not suppose, however, that a person can read a
book of literature without using his intellect. It would be
a very shallow book — indeed one not worth reading care
fully — that did not require concentrated attention. In
fact, it is often harder to grasp the thought in a book of
literature than that in a book addressed merely to the in
tellect. For, in order to make more effective the truth
which the literary book presents, the bare thought is fre
quently overlaid with images, which the imagination must
master before the reader can grasp the underlying truth.
When we read a poem, a story, an essay, a great oration,
we need to be alive in every part of our being — memory,
imagination, intellect, feeling.

All books belonging to the " literature of power" differ
more or less in style from books belonging to the " literature
of knowledge." This is necessary because the purpose of
one differs from the purpose of the other. We are satisfied
if a book that merely conveys information is clearly, correctly,
and pleasantly written. We expect much more of a book of
literary power; in fact, a book cannot belong to the " power"

4 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

class unless it offers us a great deal more than clearness and
correctness. The purpose of poetry is farthest removed from
that of mere science, therefore the style of poetry differs most
from that of scientific writing. We shall now inquire what
peculiarities of style belong to poetry; and we shall see that
most (not all) of those that do not relate to the peculiar
structure of poetry belong also to literary prose, intended,
like poetry, to describe vividly some scene, or to make us feel
deeply some truth or some phase of beauty.

CHAPTER II
THE FORMS OF POETRY

1. METER

Every line of poetry is divided into measures, as music is
divided. A poetic measure is called a foot.

The feet in a line of poetry, like the measures in a musical
composition, are given equal time. Each foot has one ac
cent, and the accented syllable, being the most prominent,
is the longest in the foot.

The English poetic foot has sometimes two, sometimes
three, syllables. Feet are divided into classes on the basis
of the number of syllables and the position of the accent.
To these classes are still given the names they received from
the ancient Greek rhetoricians.

The Iambic foot contains two syllables, the accented
coming last.

X / X / X / X / X /

The cur | few tolls | the knell | of part | ing day,
x / x / x / x / x /

The low | ing herd | winds slow ly o'er | the lea,
x / x / x / ' x / x /

The plow | man home | ward plods | his wear | y way,
x / x / x / x / x /

And leaves | the world | to dark | ness and | to me.

— GRAY: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

The iambus is the most common foot in English. Each
iambus is a climax (x /), and a line of iambic feet has a

6 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

serious, sustained effect. It is especially appropriate when
solemn, serious thoughts are to be expressed.

The Trochaic foot is the two-syllable foot that begins with
the accented syllable and ends with the unaccented syllable.

/ X / X / X / X

Should you | ask me | whence these stories,

/ x / x / x / x

Whence these | legends | and tra | ditions.

— LONGFELLOW: Hiawatha.

The trochee has the effect of an anti-climax, and is lighter,
brighter, and more rapid than the iambus. It is used when
less weighty thought is to be expressed.

The Spondee is made up of two syllables, both accented.
An entire line could not be made of spondaic feet, because
that would require every syllable to be accented. The
spondee occurs in combination with other two-syllable feet,
especially with the iambus, to retard the time and emphasize
certain words.

X / X / X / X /

I hold | it truth | with him | who sings

X / / / X / X /

To one clear harp \ in div | ers tones,

— TENNYSON: In Memoriam.

x / / / x / / / x /

The long | day wanes; \ the slow | moon climbs; \ the deep

/ / X / X / X

Moans round \ with ma | ny voic | es.

— TENNYSON : Ulysses.

The Anapest is the three-syllable foot that corresponds to
the iambus. It ends with the accented syllable, and has

THE FORMS OF POETRY 7

therefore the effect of a climax. The anapestic foot is more
rapid in movement than the iambic, but it, also, is adapted
to the quiet, meditative spirit.

XX / XX/ XX/ XX/

At the close | of the day | when the ham | let is still.

The Dactyl is the three-syllable foot that corresponds to
the trochee, an anti-climax. It is the opposite of the anapest.
Longfellow's Evangeline is written partly in dactylic measure.

/XX /XX / X X / XX / XX /

This is the | forest -pri | meval. The murmuring | pines and the | hem-
x

locks,

/xx / xx/x /xx /xx /

Bearded with | moss, and in | garments | green, indis | tinct in the twi-

x
light,

/ X /XX/X /X/XX /X

/ X /x/x / x/xx /x

The brightness of the dactylic movement is toned down
here by the use of the trochaic measure, which has but one
quick, unaccented syllable.

The Amphibrach is not often used. It is a three-syllable
foot, with the accent in the middle.

X / XX /XX/XX/X

There came to | the beach a | poor exile | of Erin,

x/x x/x x/xx /
The dew on | his thin robe | lay heavy | and chill.

— THOMAS CAMPBELL.

The second line here has no final unaccented syllable.

We have said that the poetic foot is, like the musical
measure, an exact time unit. But to pronounce a line with

8 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

such exact marking of the accents and time units would be
to scan it, not to read it. Good poetry, like good music, must
be interpreted with expression. And the best poetry is full
of variations and slight irregularities that serve to bring out
more forcibly the thought which the words express. Some
rhetoricians prefer to call poetry rhythmical rather than
metrical, thus indicating that there is an exact time interval
between the accents, but stating nothing with regard to
the number or length of syllables that occupy this interval.
Read aloud one of the rather mechanically constructed
couplets from Pope's Essay on Man.

x / x /
Know then | thyself,

x / x Ixl
presume | not God | to scan

X / X / X / X / X /

The pro | per stud | y of mankind | is man.

This poem is addressed chiefly to the intellect, and the some
what wooden character of the meter is not, therefore, a very
serious defect. Compare this with a few lines from Cole
ridge's Christabel.

x / x / x / x /
There is not wind enough to twirl
x / / / x / x x /
The one red leaf the last of its clan,
x /xx/xx /x/
That dances as often as dance it can,

/ x x / x / x x /
Hanging so light and hanging so high

xx/x /x x/xx/
On the topmost twig that looks up at the sky.

Coleridge himself explains his meter in Christabel:

[It] is not, properly speaking, irregular, though it may seem so from be
ing founded on a new principle, namely that of counting in each line the
accents, not the syllables. Though the latter may vary from seven to
twelve, yet in each line the accents will be found to be only four. Never-

THE FORMS OF POETRY 9

theless, the occasional variation in number of syllables is not introduced
wantonly, but in correspondence with some transition in the nature of
the imagery or passion.

The correspondence of sound and meaning in the passage
quoted is thus explained by Johnson (Forms of English
Poetry, page 31):

The slow iambics in the first line suggest quiet night. The second
line is more drowsy. The spondee, 'red leaf/ makes the movement
slow and halts the line. 'Of its clan/ anapest, however, imparts move
ment. In the third line the iambics and anapests give more liveliness.
The fourth line is more rapid still, and in the fifth the iambus and three
anapests correspond to the idea of restless movement. *

In a sentence, we may say that the movement is slow when
the poet speaks of the quiet, windless night, and rapid when
he speaks of the quick, dancing motion of the leaf. Thus
it is evident that in good poetry variation is not made merely
for the sake of variation, but to bring out some particular
shade of thought or feeling. The poet is the master, not the
slave, of his meter.

Observe the vivid suggestion to the imagination, and the
accompanying emotional effect obtained by reversing the
position of the accents in these lines from Poe's Annabel Lee.

x I x/xx/ i x

A wind | blew out | of a cloud, | chilling
My beautiful Annabel Lee.

That, the wind came out of a cloud by night,

/ x x / x x/xx/
Chilling and \ killing \ my Ann | abel Lee.

Clayton Hamilton, in his Materials and Methods of Fic
tion (pages 206, 207), has the following paragraph:

* From Forms of English Poetry. Copyright, 1904, by Charles F. Johnson.
Permission of American Book Company, publishers.

10 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The appeal of rhythm to the human ear is basal and elemental; the
style depends for its effect more on mastery of rhythmic phrase than
upon any other individual detail. In verse, the technical problem is
two-fold: first, to suggest to the ear of the reader a rhythmic pattern of
standard regularity; and then, to vary from the regularity suggested
as deftly and as frequently as may be possible without ever allowing
the reader for a moment to forget the fundamental pattern. In prose,
the writer works with greater freedom; and his problem is therefore at
once more easy and more difficult. Instead of starting with a standard
pattern, he has to invent a web of rhythm which is suited to the sense
he wishes to convey; and then, without ever disappointing the ear of
the reader by unnecessarily withholding an expected fall of rhythm,
he must shatter every inkling of monotony by continual and tasteful
variation.*

The subject of prose rhythm is rather subtle for the elementary
student, and is not, therefore, discussed in this volume. If the
teacher or a more advanced student wishes to take up the subject,
he will do well to begin with Genung's Working Principles of
Rhetoric, pages 210-220, and Lewis's Principles of English Verse,
Chapter I.

"The appeal of rhythm to the human ear" is so "basal and ele
mental" that it is acknowledged by the most primitive man and
the youngest child. To the undeveloped mind the appeal of rhythm
alone is sufficient, without regard to sense, as our nursery and non
sense rimes prove. Children are pleased with verses rich in devices
for securing rhythm and melody, but absolutely wanting in thought.
Many of our old ballads contain meaningless lines, repeated again
and again, often at regular intervals, solely for their movement
and "jingle."

Variations between iambic and anapestic feet and between
trochaic and dactylic are particularly common, and make
no change in the rhythm, because the relative position of
accented and unaccented syllables remains the same. The

* The quotation from Hamilton is made by kind permission of Doubleday,
Page and Company, publishers of the book quoted.

THE FORMS OF POETRY 11

anapest and the dactyl present two very quick unaccented
syllables for the longer unaccented one of the iambus and
trochee; in the terms of the following paragraphs, two eighth
notes for one quarter. That is, the meter is varied without
disturbing the rhythm, which is secured by maintaining
equal time intervals between the accents.

Some persons find it helpful to mark the movement of
poetry with the musical notation. The following examples
of this method are taken from Genung's Working Prin
ciples of Rhetoric and Winchester's Principles of Literary
Criticism.

The literary critic, like the musician, would say here that

1 J x | J x I J x

Break, break, break,

N N I I I \ \ \ 1

4444 d | J* J-

On thy cold, gray stones, O sea I **

1 J J J | J J J | J J J | J J

Half a league, half a league half a league on - ward,

J. i / /IJ J j J I J. / J U J

* 3

All in the val - ley of death Rode the six - hun - dred.*

I J | J J | J | J | J J | J

Charge, Ches - ter, Charge ! On, Stan - ley, on ! **

* Used by permission of Ginn & Co.

** Used by permission of The Macraillan Company.

12 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

I / J.l J J J J J J-

v^ 3 ^

For old, uu - hap - py, far - off things. **

3 N I N N I IN I IS IS I

4*|* a 0 - • \ * * ' ' '

The spleu-dour falls on cas - tie walls,
IS I N N IS IS ]N IN I IS Nv

^ I * * * * * * I *

And snow - y sum - naits old in sto - ry ;

/| / / J. /| / / J. i

The long light shakes ^a - cross the lakes,

J ^ I

And the wild cat - a - ract leaps in glo - ry.

oi h h I 1 ^^IJ >>!! J
}: J J • J -: J J^|J J J I J J

Blow, bu - gle, blow, set the wild ech - oes fly - ing,

J ;> /|/ / / /| J /i|J ^^|J J

Blow, bu - gle, an - swer,ech - oes, dy - ing, dy - ing, dy - ing. *

the first three lines of The Bugle Song begin on the up-beat,
and that the regular measure begins with the second syllable
of each line. The rests are convenient representations of
sentence pauses and metrical pauses.

In iambic movement, the first syllable of a line may be given
stress by the use of a trochee for the first measure.

* Used by permission of Ginn & Co.

** Used by permission of The Macmillan Co.

THE FORMS OF POETRY 13

/ x x / x/ x/x/
Seasons \ return, | but not | to me | returns

/ x x / x / x / x /
Day, or the sweet | approach | of ev'n | or morn.

— MILTON: Paradise Lost, III, 41. 42.

The initial trochee has the effect of what musicians call a sharp,
clear "attack." This emphasis of the first syllable is particularly
common in the first line of a poem, and strengthens the opening.

Or such inversion may be made for the purpose of giving proper
sentence-accent, as in the first foot of this line from Poe:

/ x x / x / x x /
7 was | a child, | and she \ was a child.

— POE: Annabel Lee.

Or the unaccented syllable of the first iambic measure may be
omitted, as in the first two lines below:

/ x / x / x /
Tow | ered cit | ies please | us then,

/ x / x / x /
And the bus | y hum | of men,

x / x / / x /

Where throngs | of knights | and bar | ons bold
x / x / x/x /

In weeds | of peace | high tri | umph hold.

— MILTON: U Allegro.

We may say that a "rest" takes the place of this unaccented
syllable. The rest often occurs for the unaccented syllable at the
end of the line; and occasionally within the line, as in

Break, break, break.

In run-on lines the rhythm may be sustained unbroken by the
combination of a final incomplete foot with an initial incomplete
foot.

Till the dirges of his Hope that melancholy burden bore
Of " Never — never more."

— POE: The Raven.

14 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

i x

Bore of keeps up the trochaic movement. Since there is no pause
after bore to fill the place of the wanting unaccented syllable,
the effect is probably smoother without an accent at the beginning
of the next line.

There is occasionally an extra unaccented syllable at the
end of a line, which produces a falling cadence after an
iambic foot.

X / X / X / X / X /

On helm | and har | ness rings the Sax | on hammer,

x / x / x / x / x /
Through Cimbric forests roars the Norseman's song,

X / X / X / X / X /

And loud | amid the u | niver | sal clamor

X / X / X / X / X /

O'er distant desert sounds the Tartar's gong.

- LONGFELLOW: The Arsenal at Springfield.

X f X X / X X / X /

We thought as we hollowed his narrow bed,

x / x x / x /

And smoothed | down his lone | ly pillow,

xx/xx /xx /xx/
How the foe and the stranger would tread o'er his head,

x /xx/ xx /
And we | far away | on the billow.

— WOLFE: The Burial of Sir John Moore.

The meter sometimes requires the omission of an unac
cented syllable.

/ X / X / X /X / X / X /X / X

— POE: The Raven.

The syllable to be omitted in reading is left out in writing
such words as o'er, e'en.

There is often elision of two vowels coming together in
successive words.

THE FORMS OF POETRY 15

/ X / X / X /

On a sudden open fly,

/ x / x / x / x / x /
With impetuous recoil and jarring sound,

x _ / x / x / x / x /
The infernal doors, and on their hinges grate

r / x / x / x / x /
Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook
x / X /
Of Erebus.

— MILTON: Paradise Lost, II, 879-883.

Not all accented syllables have the same force. Each word
has its own natural accent, and each sentence its most em
phatic word or words. When one or both of these accents
combine with the metrical accent, the result is naturally a
heavier emphasis. There is, therefore, no monotony in the
effect of the accents, though they are placed regularly in
the line. Notice particularly in this connection the quota
tion from Milton above. These lines are marked again below
for the variety in force with which the accented syllables are
spoken. 1 represents word-accent; 2, sentence-accent;
3, metrical accent.

3 13 123 123
On a sudden open fly,
3 13 3 123 123 13

With impetuous recoil and jarring sound

13 123 3 13 123

Thelnfernal doors, and on their hinges grate
123 123 3 13 13 123

Harsh thunder, that the lowest bottom shook

123 3
Of Erebus.

13 123 13 123 13

Know then thyself, presume not God to scan;

13 13 3 13 123

The proper study of mankind is man.

16 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The three accents, it will be observed, combine to give the
greatest stress to the words most significant in developing
the thought of the passage; the strongest emphasis is on the
words that unlock the thought.

The sentence (i. e., the thought) accent may even contra
dict the scansion, and thus cause some variation in the
" rhythmical pattern."

X X / X X / X X / X /

And this maiden she lived with no other thought
X X / X X / X /

But to love and be loved by me.

Here no and be, unaccented in meter, receive sentence stress.

/ X X / X / X X /

/ was a child and she was a child.

Moreover, all unaccented syllables are not equally faint.
In compound words particularly, and words originally com
pound, the unaccented syllable receives considerable stress,
and is sometimes said to have " secondary accent." Com
pare cross-bow and government. The member with the sec
ondary accent may even take the metrical stress.

X / X / X / X /

Why look'st thou so? — With my cross-bow
I shot the Albatross.

— COLERIDGE : The Ancient Mariner.

Rarely feet occur in which neither syllable is stressed; such feet
are named pyrrhics. Or perhaps it is better to regard them as hav
ing weak stress only on the metrically accented syllable; usually
only word or metrical accent without any sentence stress whatever.

A line of poetry often contains a complete grammatical
unit, i. e.j a phrase or a clause

THE FORMS OF POETRY 17

A little knowledge is a dangerous thing;
Drink deep, or taste not the Pierian Spring.

— POPE: Essay on Criticism.

But a long succession of lines regularly ending in a pause
(end-stopped lines) is likely to be monotonous. The best
poetry avoids this danger by using frequent run-on lines,
and by varying the position of the medial pause.

The chief medial pause in often called the cesura. It may
come anywhere in the line, and usually, for the sake of va
riety, shifts position in successive lines.

Seasons return; || but not to me returns

Day, || or the sweet approach of ev'n or morn.

- MILTON: Paradise Lost, III, 42, 43.

It may even come within a foot.

/ x x / x x /x x f x x I xx.
This is the | forest pri | meval. || The | murmuring | pines and the |

/ x
hemlocks

Read aloud the following lines from the first book of Para
dise Lost; note the run-on lines, the position of the pauses,
and the effective sweep of poetic phrasing.

Of man's first disobedience, || and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, 1 1 whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, || and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, || till one greater Man
Restore us, || and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, || that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, || didst inspire
That Shepherd || who first taught the chosen seed
In the beginning || how the heavens and earth
Rose out of chaos.

18 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The arrangement and distribution of pauses, end and
medial, produces the Rhythmic Phrase, whose musical,
curves cover with grace and beauty the sharp, abrupt angles
of the metrical skeleton. In the best poetry the rhythmic
phrases vary constantly in length and cadence, and thus
prevent the monotony of the regular metrical beat from be
coming offensive. Good reading brings out the rhythmic
phrasing of a poem rather than its metrical structure. When
the rhythmic phrasing exactly corresponds to the metrical
structure, a sort of " doggerel verse" is produced, which it
is almost impossible to read without scanning — a tiresome
and inartistic form. Chaucer makes one of his Canterbury
pilgrims begin a tale in "rym dogerel," but the judge in
terrupts him and compels him to abandon his sing-song
romance. One hesitates to call the poetry of Pope by such
an uncomplimentary term as " doggerel," but it is probably
the sense and not the sound that saves it. Our best artists
in rhythmic phrasing are our great masters of blank verse.
Read again the lines from Milton quoted above.

The old Greek rhetoricians have given us also names for
lines of various lengths. A line of one foot is a monometer ;
one of two feet is a dimeter ; one of three is a trimeter ; one
of four is a tetrameter ; one of five a pentameter ; one of six
a hexameter; one of seven a heptameter; one of eight an
octameter.

A tetrameter line made up of iambic or trochaic feet is
said to be octo-syllabic, because it contains eight sylla
bles. Iambic or trochaic pentameter is deca-syllabic (ten-
syllabled).

Lines rarely contain more than six accents. A seven-foot
measure is usually written in two lines, one of four, the other
of three, feet. An octameter is usually written as two te-

THE FORMS OF POETRY 19

trameter lines. Both tetrameter and pentameter are very
common.

There is no very great virtue in the difficult classic names
for our measures and lines. We may employ, if we wish,
especially for convenience in writing, a simpler symbol. As
an abbreviation for iambic pentameter we may write 5xa;
for trochaic tetrameter 4az; for dactylic trimeter 3axx; etc.

Long lines naturally give a slower, more sweeping and
dignified phrasing to the poem. They are apt to be found,
therefore, in the expression of thoughtful, serious sentiment,
while the more vivacious short lines are appropriate for
brighter, livelier composition.

Monometer and dimeter are seldom used for complete poems,
though examples are found. They are frequently used to produce
the effect of echoing the longer lines that precede them.

x / x / x /
Is this a fast, to keep

x / x /
The larder lean

x /
And clean

x / x / x /
From fat of veal and sheep?

— HERRICK: To Keep a True Lent.

See also Burns's To a Mouse, Wordsworth's At the Grave of Burns,
and Herrick's To Daffodils.

A verse of six iambic feet is called an Alexandrine. A fine ex
ample from Pope shows its effect.

A needless Alexandrine ends the song,

And, like a wounded snake, drags its slow length along.

— Essay on Criticism, II.

The line of six feet, in a poem composed of pentameter lines,

20 STUDIES 'IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

retards the time, as the figure of Pope indicates. He further retards
by means of the spondee "slow length"

2. STANZA AND RIME

Two words are said to rime when they differ in the initial
consonant or consonants of the riming syllables, and are
identical in the following vowel and consonant sounds. Rime
occurs in accented syllables, because they alone are con
spicuous enough to make the identity of sound effective.
Rime relates to sound, not to spelling. The following words
show pairs of rimes: run: son (sun); rain: main; air: fair;
gay: say.

The rime may include two syllables, the first being ac
cented: charming: harming; willow: pillow; any: penny. A
two-syllable rime is sometimes called a feminine rime, and
the single-syllable rime is called masculine.

Even three syllables may be included in the rime, or iden
tity of sound, the first of the three being accented: tenderly:
slenderly; (un) fortunate: (im)portunate; (uri) dutiful: beautiful.

All poets make use of imperfect rimes, in which there is
similarity, but not absolute identity, between either the
riming vowel or the riming consonant (s) : June: moon; home:
come; love: prove; only: homely; humanly: womanly.

An imperfect rime disappoints the ear of the reader, and
is a blemish in a poem; but sometimes it is impossible for a
poet to avoid the use of one, because he has to consider sense
and meter as well as rime. An occasional imperfect rime
is hardly noticed, but a great number seriously impair the
musical effect of a poem.

Identical rimes are rare, and not as effective as rimes on
words with different consonants preceding the accented
vowel.

THE SHAKESPEARE HOUSE, STRATFORD-ON-AVON

THE BIRTH ROOM

THE FORMS OF POETRY 21

For some were hung with arras green and blue,

Showing a gaudy summer morn,
Where with puff'd cheek the belted hunter blew

His wreathed bugle-horn.

— TENNYSON: The Palace of Art.

Rime is useful because it is pleasing in itself, and because
it binds lines into groups called stanzas.

A poet may make any stanza combination he pleases,
using as many lines as he likes, and arranging the rimes as
he likes; but there are in our literature a great many con
ventional stanzas used by all poets. Variety in the stanza
may be made by variation in the meter and the line-length,
as well as by the arrangement of rime.

For convenience and brevity in describing rime in stanza
structure, the end syllables will here be represented by the letters
of the alphabet, riming syllables by the same letter. The rime-
scheme for the stanza below is ababcb.

It was many and many a year ago,

In a kingdom by the sea,
That a maiden there lived whom you may know,

By the name of Annabel Lee;
And this maiden she lived with no other thought,

Than to love and be loved by me.

— POE : Annabel Lee.

The shortest possible stanza is the couplet of two riming lines.

All are but parts of one stupendous whole,
Whose body Nature is, and God the soul.

— POPE: Essay on Man.

The iambic pentameter couplet, of which the above is an example,
is sometimes called the heroic couplet.

Tennyson in The Two Voices has used a three-line stanza, all the
lines riming.

22 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

A still small voice spake unto me,
"Thou art so full of misery,
Were it not better not to be?"

Four-line stanzas are very common. They may rime abab, aabb,
abcb, abac, or abba. The lines may be of any length and any meter.
Often the lines are alternately tetrameter and trimeter, and the
four lines are equivalent to a couplet in heptameter.

The curfew tolls the knell of parting day,
The lowing herd winds slowly o'er the lea,
The plowman homeward plods his weary way,
And leaves the world to darkness and to me.

— GRAY: Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard.

So runs my dream: but what am I?

An infant crying in the night:

An infant crying for the light:
And with no language but a cry.

— TENNYSON: In Memoriam, LIV.

Stanzas are found containing as many as twenty-four lines, but
the longer ones are less common. Five-line stanzas occur in Cole
ridge's Rime of the Ancient Mariner and Shelley's To a Skylark;
six-line stanzas in Collins's How Sleep the Brave and Rossetti's
Blessed Damozel; seven-line stanzas in Morris's The Earthly Para
dise and Milton's On the Morning of Christ's Nativity (Introduction) ;
eight-line stanzas in Burns's To Mary in Heaven; nine-line stanzas
in Campbell's Battle of the Baltic; ten-line stanzas in Keats's Ode
to a Grecian Urn. Other examples may be noted as they present
themselves in literature.

A famous stanza is the Spenserian stanza, invented by
the poet Spenser for The Faery Queene^ and used by many
later poets.

THE FORMS OF POETRY 23

As gentle shepherd in sweet eventide,

When ruddy Phoebus 'gins to welke in west,

High on a hill, his flocks to viewen wide,

Marks which do bite their hasty supper best,

A cloud of cumbrous gnats do him molest,

All striving to infix their feeble stings,

That from their noyance he nowhere can rest,

But with his clownish hands their tender wings

He brusheth oft, and oft doth mar their murmurings.

— Canto I, Stanza 23.

We count nine lines in the stanza. The rime scheme is
ababbcbcc. Careful study shows that the first eight lines are
iambic pentameter, and the ninth is iambic hexameter (an
Alexandrine). The longer line at the end gives finish and
dignity to this most musical of stanzas.

The Sonnet is one of the finest forms we have for the short
poem complete in one stanza.

Milton! thou should'st be living at this hour:

England hath need of thee; she is a fen

Of stagnant waters: altar, sword, and pen,

Fireside, the heroic wealth of hall and bower,

Have forfeited their ancient English dower

Of inward happiness. We are selfish men;

Oh! raise us up, return to us again;

And give us manners, virtue, freedom, power.

Thy soul was like a star, and dwelt apart :

Thou hadst a voice whose sound was like the sea:

Pure as the naked heavens, majestic, free,

So didst thou travel on life's common way,

In cheerful godliness; and yet thy heart

The lowliest duties on herself did lay.

— WORDSWORTH.

If you scan this sonnet, you will find that all the lines are
iambic pentameter. The rime-scheme is abbaabba cddece.

24 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The fourteen lines of the sonnet are divided into two parts
of eight and six lines — the octave and the sestet. This
division is indicated by the change of rime, the octave
containing ab and the sestet cde. The change is justified
by a turn in the thought. In the octave of this sonnet Words
worth discusses the need in the England of his day for men
like Milton; in the sestet he speaks of the character of Milton.
The rime in the octave of a sonnet is usually abbaabba, rarely
other arrangements of ab. The rime in the sestet may be
any arrangement of cde chosen by the poet.

The Shakespearian " sonnet" is not properly a sonnet
at all, but a fourteen-line poem made up of three quatrains
and a couplet. The third quatrain often shows a turn in the
thought, and the couplet gives the climax or application of
the first twelve lines. The rime-scheme is abab cdcd efef gg.

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate.
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometimes too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed;
And every fair from fair sometimes declines,
By chance or nature's changing course untrimmed;
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou owest,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st;
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

— Sonnet XIII.

Observe the turn of thought as shown by "but" at the be
ginning of the ninth line. The couplet expresses the poet's
wish to preserve forever in his sonnets the fame of his friend.

THE FORMS OF POETRY 25

Some of the finest and most dignified poetry in English
literature is written in Blank Verse, that is, verse without
rime. Iambic pentameter is used in regular blank verse.
Since there is no rime, the lines are arranged, not in stanzas,
but in paragraphs that correspond to the outline of the
thought. Blank verse has been used by Milton in his epics,
by Shakespeare and other dramatists, by Tennyson in some
of his longer poems, by Bryant in his best nature poems, and
by many other English poets who have treated sublime and
profound themes. It is particularly suitable for such themes
because, not calling attention by rime to the end of the lines,
it admits of longer, more sweeping rhythmic phrasing.

Poetry with rime is occasionally written in paragraphs (topic
divisions) instead of stanzas (rime-scheme divisions). See Long
fellow's Building of the Ship and Lowell's Vision of Sir Launfal.
There is rime in these poems, but no fixed and repeated rime-scheme
to bind the lines into formal stanzas.

Blank verse must by no means be considered a form of prose.
Though it has no rime, it has all the metrical construction of poetry,
and in every other respect follows poetic conventions.

3. THE KINDS OF POETRY

Poetry is divided according to its subject-matter into sev
eral kinds.

1. The Narrative Poem is written to tell a story. It may
relate legends of persons, of places, or of nations; it may tell
stories from real life, or those furnished by the imagination.
Tennyson's Idylls of the King and Enoch Arden, Longfellow's
Evangeline, Hiawatha, and Miles Standish are examples of
narrative poetry.

An important kind of narrative poetry is the Epic. Some

26 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

epics are the product of primitive peoples, survivals of the
life and thought of a pre-historic age. Such are the Greek
Iliad and the Old English Beowulf. These unite into one
poem legends and myths perhaps sung as short and separate
hymns by the tribes at their festivals and dances. The
joining was probably done by a single poet after the tribe
had gained some degree of culture. Other epics, as Virgil's
dEneid and Milton's Paradise Lost, are the work of one poet
living in a time of culture, who has turned a legend of na
tional or ecclesiastical interest into a noble poem.

Ballads are short narrative poems that have grown up
among the people in a primitive state of society. The real
folk-ballad was probably a chant with a refrain, an accom
paniment to a dance. Its subject would naturally be an
event of tribal or local interest — the deed of a hero, the
manifestation of the supernatural in ghosts or elves, etc., etc.
Since these folk-songs grew up before the tribe could write,
we have no ballads in their earliest form, just as we have
not the earliest form of any folk-epic. Our oldest English
ballads deal with chivalry and legends of history, with
the supernatural, with love, with personal prowess, and
with tragic themes. Some of the most interesting are those
that tell of the deeds of Robin Hood and of the border wars
between England and Scotland. Just as some culture poets
have imitated the early epic form, many modern poets have
written ballads. Cowper's John Gilpin, Longfellow's Skele
ton in Armor, Macaulay's Lays of Ancient Rome are examples
of the modern ballad.

2. A Drama is written to be acted on the stage. It may be
in prose or in poetry, or partly in prose and partly in poetry.
It may be in riming poetry or in blank verse. Shakespeare's
Midsummer Night's Dream contains prose, short riming lines,

THE FORMS OF POETRY 27

longer riming lines, and blank verse. It is interesting to
study the play to find out why the poet used each form of
expression as he did.

The dramatic form is too complicated to be studied thor
oughly in a short, general treatise, but we may define here
briefly the two great moods of the drama — tragedy and
comedy.

Tragedy presents a human being in conflict with a force
that is too strong for him and finally causes his overthrow.
This overwhelming force may be the outcome of his own sin,
as in Macbeth, where the hero sealed his own doom, physical
as well as moral, when he murdered Duncan and drove Dun
can's son to England, to return with an avenging army.
Or the destroying force may be the result of the hero's error;
Othello was the victim of a mistaken jealousy. But however
the force may be awakened, the end of tragedy is disaster.

In Comedy the danger is only apparent, or, at any rate,
not overwhelming. The end of comedy is a happy solution
of the difficulties of the hero. If any person meets disaster,
it is the villain, at whose overthrow we are pleased. Since
comedy does not move us to "pity or terror," it may prop
erly contain much that is laughable. A comedy is often the
working out, through a series of blunders, of an amusingly
perplexing situation, as Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors. It
often presents droll characters, as Mrs. Malaprop, in Sheri
dan's Rivals. Yet some of our best comedy is not particularly
laughable ; it is simply the development to a happy conclusion
of a situation more or less complex.

A tragedy may, for particular reasons, contain laughable scenes.
See De Quincey's On the Knocking at the Gate in Macbeth.

Occasionally a work written in dramatic form is not suited to

28 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

presentation on the stage, usually because it involves too little ac
tion. Such a piece is called a " closet drama."

3. Lyric poetry is the immediate expression of the feeling of
the poet — his desire, his love, his hope, his fear, his grief.
The early lyrics were sung — as indeed was early poetry of
other kinds — by a minstrel to the accompaniment of the
lyre; hence the term lyric. Lyric poems are usually short; or
a long lyric may be composed of a series of short poems, as
Tennyson's In Memoriam. The reason for briefness is that
intense emotion cannot be long sustained. Descriptive,
meditative poetry is usually of lyric character, e. g., Bryant's
nature poems.

The most dignified lyric is the Ode. With sustained dignity
it expresses emotions profound and exalted, and deals with
some elevated subject, as a national celebration or an im
portant anniversary. Though the ancient ode was of per
fectly regular construction, the English ode is generally
irregular in length of line and stanza, and in arrangement of
rime. Some excellent English odes are Dryden's Alexander's
Feast, Wordsworth's Ode on Intimations of Immortality,
Lowell's Commemoration Ode. A stanza of an ode is often
called a strophe.

4. A Didactic poem appeals more to the intellect than a
lyric, which is strongly emotional. Didactic poetry cannot,
therefore, be the highest kind, since the appeal of poetry is
not merely to the intellect. Pope's Essay on Man deals
with philosophical questions; his Essay on Criticism with
rules of rhetoric and literary criticism. A didactic poem
may have for its subject a political question, as the political
satires of Dryden. It may express party or class spirit, as
Butler's Hudibras, a satire on Puritanism.

THE FORMS OF POETRY 29

AN EXERCISE ON METER AND STANZA
Study meter and stanza forms in the following poems.

1. Whittier, Maud Mutter.

2. Whittier, The Barefoot Boy.

3. Bryant, Green River.

4. Longfellow, The Village Blacksmith.

5. Longfellow, The Children's Hour.

6. Longfellow, Three Friends of Mine.

7. Longfellow, My Lost Youth.

8. Poe, Annabel Lee.

9. Poe, The Haunted Palace.

10. Shelley, The Cloud.

11. Thomas Hood, The Bridge of Sighs.

12. Thomas Hood, The Song of the Shirt.

13. Walter Scott, Lochinvar.

14. Caroline E. Norton, Bingen on the Rhine.

15. Longfellow's Sonnets: Chaucer, Shakespeare, Milton, Keats, The
Sound of the Sea, In the Churchyard at Tarrytown, Eliot's Oak, To the
River Rhone, The Three Silences of Molinos, Wapentake.

CHAPTER III

MELODY AND HARMONY

1. MELODY

Since poetry is intended to give the reader pleasure, the
poet must take some pains to use words that are musical
and agreeable. A passage has Melody when it is musical and
pleasing in sound.

Some sounds are in their nature less pleasing than others.
The explosive consonants (as d, t, b, g, k) are more abrupt
than the spirants (as s, f, v), and are apt to produce a hur
ried, staccato, sometimes even a rather harsh effect. The
spirants, and especially the liquids (I, m, n, r), are easily
prolonged, and blend with the following sounds; they give
the verse a smooth, flowing, legato effect. Notice the pre
dominance of liquids and spirants in these lines from Words
worth's T intern Abbey:

Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns,
And the round ocean, and the living air,
And the blue sky, and in the mind of man.

Poe, who studied sound effects carefully, says that he
chose ''Nevermore" as the refrain for The Raven largely
because the word contains the most sonorous vowel, o, and
the most "producible" consonant, r. An amusing story
is told of an Italian lady who knew not a, word of English,

MELODY AND HARMONY 31

but who, when she heard the word cellar-door, was convinced
that English must be a most musical language. If the word
were not in our minds hopelessly attached to a humble
significance, we, too, might be charmed by its combination
of spirant, liquids, and vowels.

Words which contain awkward combinations are avoided
in literary prose as well as in poetry (sixthly, pledged, etc.).

Authors are careful, likewise, to make pleasant combina
tions in adjacent words.

Drink to me only with thine eyes.

— BEN JONSON.

Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

— MRS. JULIA WARD HOWE.

These combinations are much more agreeable than my eyes
and thy eyes would be, because n separates the vowel sounds
in the adjacent words. Tennyson never ceased to regret
one of his earlier verses in which the letter s was awkwardly
used in three successive words.

In such great offices as suit

The full-grown energies of heaven.

The following are a few devices occasionally used by poets,
some of them by writers of prose, to add to melodic effect.

Alliteration is the linking of neighboring accented syllables
by the recurrence of the same initial consonant sound. The
sound must be the same, though the letter may be different :
cellar: said; fceep: can. The words must be so near to
gether that the sound carries over from one to the other
in the mind of the reader, or no effect is produced.

32 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The splendor falls on castle walls,
And snowy summits old in story;
The long light shakes across the Zakes,
And the wild cataract Zeaps in glory.

— TENNYSON: The Bugle Song.

The alliteration may change quickly.

The Zisp of Zeaves and ripple of rain.

— SWINBURNE.

We sometimes find "cross alliteration."

I come from daunts of coot and Aern.

— TENNYSON: The Brook.

Assonance means the linking of neighboring words by the
recurrence of the vowel sound in their accented syllables.
We need to have a keen ear for the sound recurrence, since
the spelling often disguises it to the eye.

So all day long the noise of battle rolled.

— TENNYSON: The Passing of Arthur.

From the molten-golden notes.

— POE: The Bells.

Internal Rime is used for its musical effect.

The splendor falls on castle watts.
The long light shakes across the lakes.

— TENNYSON: The Bugle Song.

My wing is king of the summer time.

— LANIER: Tampa Robins.

When the end of a line rimes with the middle, as in the
quotation from Tennyson, the long line has the effect of

MELODY AND HARMONY 33

two short ones. A person could not tell from the sound
whether such a line were written in one tetrameter or in
two dimeters.

Repetition of words and phrases is often melodious, and
strengthens their effect. This is especially noticeable in a
refrain repeated at the end of each of a series of stanzas.
Poe's Raven would not be nearly as effective a poem if
it were not for the insistent and melancholy "Nevermore"
at the close of each stanza. Read aloud Longfellow's Old
Clock on the Stairs, and observe the return of the striking

Forever — never;
Never — forever.

The repetition of to-morrow in the following line emphasizes
the notion, and imitates the slow, monotonous passage of
time to one who has lost his pleasure in living.

To-morrow, and to-morrow, and to-morrow,
Creeps in this petty pace from day to day,
To the last syllable of recorded time;
And all our yesterdays have lighted fools
The way to dusty death.

— SHAKESPEARE : Macbeth, V, 5.

Both repetition and internal rime are used in:

And the same rose blows, and the same sun glows,
And the same brook sings of a year ago.

— WHITTIER: Telling the Bees.

In connection with the subject of melody, R. L. Stevenson's
essay on Style in Literature is interesting, as the thought of a master
of melody and style.

34 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

2. HARMONY

Under melody we have considered the musical quality of words
and phrases and sentences, without regard to the thoughts they
express. Under Harmony we shall consider the suitability of the
sound to the thought.

Harmony, or fitness, is a higher principle than mere melody,
or agreeableness. Even harsh or abrupt sounds may be effective in
the description of harsh noises or strong passions. The expression
is best that best helps the reader's imagination to grasp the thought
of the writer, and to feel the effect intended. This principle of
writing is well stated in the lines of Pope. (Essay on Criticism,
Book II.)

But true expression, like th' unchanging sun,
Clears and improves whate'er it shines upon,
It gilds all objects, but it alters none.
Expression is the dress of thought, and still
Appears more decent as more suitable;
A vile conceit in pompous words expressed,
Is like a clown in regal purple dressed:
For diff'rent styles with diff'rent subjects sort,
As sev'ral garbs with country, town, and court.
********

'Tis not enough no harshness gives offense,
The sound must seem an echo to the sense.

The contrasting couplets below follow excellently well
the advice they give. Read them aloud, and note the allitera
tion of the flowing spirants and the swift movement in
I and IV, and the pauses and difficult combinations that
make II and III slow and heavy.

I Soft is the strain when zephyr gently blows,

And the smooth stream in smoother numbers flows;
II But when loud surges lash the sounding shore,
The hoarse, rough verse should like a torrent roar.

MELODY AND HARMONY 35

III When Ajax strives some rock's vast weight to throw,
The line, too, labours, and the words move slow;

IV Not so when swift Camilla scours the plain,

Flies o'er the unbending corn, and skims along the main.

Milton, in the second book of Paradise Lost, suggests the
harsh grating of the doors of hell :

On a sudden open fly,
With impetuous recoil and jarring sound,
The infernal doors, and on their hinges grate
Harsh thunder.

The utter desolation of the Ancient Mariner is suggested
by the pauses and the long, resonant vowels in Coleridge's :

Alone, alone, all, all alone,
Alone on a wide, wide sea.

Read aloud the following paragraph from Irving's West
minster Abbey. Observe the sonorous majesty of the words
that describe the organ music, and the pure melody of those
that describe the clear voices of the choir. His description
contains many of the adornments more common to poetry
than to prose, for the paragrapn is written with a poetic
purpose, i. e., to elevate and refine us through our sympathy
with the beautiful. Notice especially the use of alliteration.

Suddenly the notes of the deep-laboring organ burst upon the ear,
falling with doubled and re-doubled intensity, and rolling, as it were,
huge billows of sound. How well do their volume and grandeur accord
with this mighty building! With what pomp do they swell through its
vast vaults, and breathe their awful harmony through these caves of
death, and make the silent sepulchre vocal! And now they rise in
triumph and acclamation, heaving higher and higher their -accordant
notes, and piling sound on sound. — And now they pause, and the soft
voices of the choir break out into sweet gushes of melody; they soar

36 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

aloft and warble along the roof, and seem to play about these lofty
vaults like the pure airs of heaven. — Again the pealing organ heaves its
thrilling thunders, compressing air into music and rolling it forth on
the soul. What long-drawn cadences! What solemn, sweeping con
cords! It grows more and more dense and powerful, — it fills the vast
pile, and seems to jar the very walls — the ear is stunned — the senses
are overwhelmed. And now it is winding up in full jubilee — it is
rising from the earth to heaven — the very soul seems rapt away, and
floated upwards on this swelling tide of harmony.

Some of the devices named under melody may be used
for sound suggestion rather than for musical effect. For ex
ample, alliteration of explosives is not always musical; it
may be suggestive of irregularity or harshness.

What a Zale of terror now their hirbulency tells!

-POE: The Bells.

Certain words are, in their own sound, imitative of the
sounds they name: buzz, hiss, whiz, rush, tinkle, murmur,
rumble, rattle. These are Onomatopoetic words. They
are vivid because they bring clearly to the imagination the
sound of which the author is writing.

How they tinkle, tinkle, tinkle.

-POE: The Bells.

How they clang, and clash, and roar.

-POE: The Bells.

Whole lines or sentences may be imitative.

I galloped, Dirck galloped, we galloped all three.

— BROWNING: How They Brought the Good News.

That toward Caunterbury wolden ride.

— CHAUCER: Prologue.

MELODY AND HARMONY 37

Drops the light drip of the suspended oar,

Or chirps the grasshopper one goodnight 'carol more.

- BYRON: Childe Harold, III, 86.

The last example shows also onomatopoea in the word chirps.

A more subtle study is that of vowel quality, on which de
pends the tone-color of a poem. This subject can hardly be
discussed apart from examples of some length. One of the
best poems in the English language for such study is Poe's
Bells. In preparation for the study of this poem, it may be
said here that the vowels made in the front of the mouth
(e, i) are light, and produce a tone-color bright and gay; while
the vowels made far back in the mouth (a, o, u) are more
sonorous, and produce a more serious effect. Compare
tinkle and toll. The explanation is purely physiological.
When we speak the front vowels, we do not use fully the
resonance cavities of the head, and the sounds are not,
therefore, sonorous. When we speak the back vowels, we do
use the resonance cavities, and the sounds are deeper and
fuller.

From what has been said of meter, rime, melody, and
harmony, it is clear that an author, particularly a poet, in
tends to produce his effect on our minds and emotions partly
through sound. Literature is, then, addressed partly through
the ear to the intellect and feelings, and we cannot enjoy it
properly through the eye alone. Literary prose and all
poetry must be read aloud if we are to feel its full power.
Poetry, however, is not to be scanned in reading. Scanning
emphasizes the metrical frame-work. By varying the ac
cent, by observing proper pauses, by phrasing, a good reader
of poetry builds upon this metrical framework, so that to
the ear is presented a finished and beautiful musical struc
ture.

38 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

AN EXERCISE ON METER, MELODY, AND HARMONY

1. Poe: The Bells. See the study printed later.

2. Bungay: Creeds of the Bells.

3. Poe: The Raven. See the study in this volume.

4. Holmes: The Last Leaf.

5. Lanier: The Song of the Chattahoochee. See the study printed in
this volume.

6. Emerson: The Humble-Bee. Note the effect of the short lines;
the use of z and the humming sounds.

7. Finch: The Patriot Spy.

8. Read, Thomas Buchanan: Drifting. Note the effect of long
vowels and frequent rimes.

9. Bryant: Robert of Lincoln.

10. Trowbridge: The Charcoal Man.

11. Trowbridge: Evening at the Farm.

12. Shelley: The Skylark.

13. Dryden: A Song for St. Cecilia' s Day.

14. Dryden: Alexander's Feast.

15. Southey: The Cataract of Lodore.

CHAPTER IV
THE SENTENCE

1. LOOSE AND PERIODIC SENTENCES

The English language, being practically uninflected, shows
the relation of words chiefly by their position in the sentence.
The usual order is: the subject and its modifiers plus the
verb, its complement, and its modifiers. A sentence of this
common type, used in many rhetorics, is: "We came to our
journey's end, at last, after much fatigue, with no small
difficulty, through deep roads and bad weather."

Sentences like this, producing the effect of anti-climax
because subordinate elements follow main elements, are
called Loose. Such sentences might be ended before the
actual period occurs; the one quoted might close after endj
last, fatigue, or difficulty.

For greater effect this sentence may be arranged to pro
duce a climax; that is, the main parts may be put last. "At
last, with no small difficulty, after great fatigue, through
deep roads and bad weather, we came to our journey's end."
This sentence cannot be ended before the final words. The
meaning is held in suspense, and the mind is kept expectant
to the very end. This is a Periodic sentence.

Other examples of the periodic sentence often cited are the
following :

In the beginning of the thirteenth century, when the clouds and

40 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

storms had come, when the gay, sensuous pagan life was gone, when men
were not living by the senses and the understanding, when they were
looking for the speedy coming of Anti-Christ, there appeared in Italy, to
the north of Rome, in the beautiful Umbrian country, at the foot of the
Apennines, a figure of most magical power and charm — St. Francis.

— MATTHEW ARNOLD.
Ere man learned

To hew the shaft, and lay the architrave,
And spread the roof above them, — ere he framed
The lofty vault, to gather and roll back
The sound of anthems; in the darkling wood,
Amid the cool and silence, he knelt down,
And offered to the Mightiest solemn thanks
And supplication.

— BRYANT: A Forest Hymn.

In reading the periodic sentence, one notes the effect of
climax, and the superiority of this form over the loose in
dignity, strength, and weight. Since, however, the periodic
form is a departure from the usual English word-order
and a device to secure an effect, it would be undesirable to
make all the sentences of a composition periodic. Moreover,
it would be impossible to make some sentences strictly
periodic. We may say, however, that a writer has a " periodic
style" when he frequently places the more important parts
of the sentence after the subordinate parts, and thus secures
the effect of sentence climax. The following sentence is not
strictly periodic, because a time clause occurs after the main
part of the sentence; yet the main verbs (go and list) are
held so long in suspense that the sentence has the power and
dignity of one truly periodic.

When thoughts

Of the last bitter hour come like a blight
Over thy spirit, and sad images
Of the stern agony, and shroud, and pall,

THE SENTENCE 41

And breathless darkness, and the narrow house,
Make thee to shudder, and grow sick at heart; —
Go forth under the open sky, and list
To Nature's teachings, while from all around —
Earth and her waters and the depths of air —
Comes a still voice.

— BRYANT: Thanatopsis.

2. SENTENCE INVERSION

Any element out of its usual place in the sentence attracts
attention, and therefore gains force.

In the following sentences, the predicates (in whole or in
part) stand before the subjects. Note the emphasis given
the first words.

Down dropped the thermometer!

Up you go!

There goes the express!

Not once was he defeated.

Him they loved.

Flashed all their sabres bare.

Observe the strong emotional effect gained by beginning
the following sentences with their predicate adjectives.

Great is Diana of the Ephesians.

Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great.

Fair as a summer dream was Margaret.

Great is the mystery of space, greater is the mystery of time.

Occasionally the inversion is made to secure coherence
between two sentences.

42 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

His friends took the necessary steps for placing him as an appren
tice at some shop-keeper's in Penrith. This he looked upon as an in
dignity. (Quoted from Genung's Rhetoric.)

Thus is the law of progress secured.

— CARLYLE : Sartor Resartus.

3. LONG AND SHORT SENTENCES

Some writers incline to very long sentences, some to
shorter ones; most writers mix long and short sentences, for
variety, and as the effects they desire to produce require
the one or the other.

Statements are often more easily understood when made
in a succession of short sentences than when made in one
long involved sentence. Short sentences make the style
lively and animated. But too many of them in succession are
abrupt, monotonous, and tiresome. The short sentence
makes a bald statement, without modification, and is, there
fore, likely to present a one-sided or incomplete view. See
the study of Emerson's Essays in this volume.

Long sentences have more dignity than short ones, and
give a fine opportunity for climax. In the hands of the most
skillful writers they produce a long sweep of rhythmic phras
ing. A writer in the "periodic style" generally uses long
sentences, elaborately constructed, holding a " flock of
clauses" in suspense, and moving with stately rhythm
(Minto) . See the examples from Arnold and Bryant above.

4. THE BALANCED CONSTRUCTION

When the clauses of a compound sentence are similar in
form and weight, they are said to be Balanced.

The heavens declare the glory of God, and the firmament showeth
his handiwork.

THE SENTENCE 43

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night showeth knowl
edge.

These verses are taken from the Nineteenth Psalm. Bal
ance was a regular device in Hebrew poetry, and there is a
strong rhythm to our translation of it into balanced sen
tences. Read through the Nineteenth Psalm and find all
the balanced sentences in it.

The examples given above show balance in the clauses of
a compound sentence. We find also balance of phrases, of
infinitives, and of subordinate clauses. Series of phrases or
clauses give 'the effect of balance.

Studies serve for delight, for ornament, and for ability. — To spend too
much time in studies is sloth; to use them too much for ornament is affec
tation; to make judgment wholly by their rules is the humor of a scholar.

— BACON: Of Studies.

They ascribed every event to the will of a Great Being, for whose
power nothing was too vast, for whose inspection nothing was too minute.

— MACAULAY.

It will be observed (see the series of clauses in the quo
tation from Bacon) that if one member of the series is a little
longer or otherwise more weighty than the others, it is placed
at the end, to secure the effect of climax.

Balance is very often employed to express Antithesis
(contrast; one thing set over against another). The balance
gives force to the contrast. The conjunction between the
balanced clauses or phrases in antithetical expression is the
adversative but.

Blessings are upon the head of the just, but violence covereth the
mouth of the wicked. — The Psalms.

44 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

If you would make one rich, study not to increase his stores, but to
diminish his desires.

The Puritans hated bear-baiting, not because it gave pain to the
bear, but because it gave pleasure to the spectators.

— MACAULAY: Milton.

The force of the balanced construction comes partly from
the expression of the thought in definitely denned units, and
partly from the rhythm that accompanies the repetition of
similar and equivalent units.

5. RHETORICAL INTERROGATION AND EXCLAMATION

Authors sometimes throw sentences into exclamatory or
interrogative form simply for gain in force, the declarative
form being without emotional effect.

What a piece of work is man! how noble in reason! how infinite in
faculties! in form how moving! in action how like an angel! in appre
hension how like a god! the beauty of the world! the paragon of animals!

— SHAKESPEARE: Hamlet.

Hath not a Jew eyes, hath not a Jew hands, organs, dimensions,
senses, affections, passions? fed with the same food, hurt with the same
weapons, subject to the same diseases, healed by the same means,
warmed and cooled by the same summer and winter as a Christian?
If you prick us, do we not bleed? If you tickle us, do we not laugh?
If you poison us, do we not die? And if you wrong us, shall we not
revenge?

— SHAKESPEARE: The Merchant of Venice, III, 1.

Shylock's thought is perfectly clear; he expects no answer
to his questions, for there could be only one. Change the
two quotations from Shakespeare into declarative form, and
see how much they lose in force.

THE SENTENCE 45

AN EXERCISE ON SENTENCES

Discuss the form of the following sentences, and the rhetorical
value of the form chosen.

1. If the flights of Dry den therefore are higher, Pope continues longer
on the wing. If of Dryden's fire the blaze is higher, of Pope's the heat
is more regular and constant. Dryden often surpasses expectation,
and Pope never falls below it. Dryden is read with frequent astonish
ment, and Pope with perpetual delight.

— DR. JOHNSON: Lives of the Poets (Pope).

2. Upon me, as upon others, scattered thinly by tens and twenties
over every thousand years, fell too powerfully and too early the vision
of life. — DE QUINCEY: Suspiria de Profundis.

3. Of man's first disobedience, and the fruit
Of that forbidden tree, whose mortal taste
Brought death into the world, and all our woe,
With loss of Eden, till one greater Man
Restore us, and regain the blissful seat,
Sing, Heavenly Muse, that on the secret top
Of Oreb, or of Sinai, didst inspire
That shepherd, who first taught the chosen seed,
In the beginning how the heaven and earth
Rose out of chaos: or, if Sion hill
Delight thee more, and Siloa's brook that flowed
Fast by the oracle of God, I thence
Invoke thy aid to my adventurous song,
That with no middle flight intends to soar
Above the Aonian mount, while it pursues
Things unattempted yet in prose or rime.

T — MILTON: Paradise Lost, I, 1-16.

4. The style of Dryden is capricious and varied, that of Pope is cau
tious and uniform. Dryden obeys the motions of his own mind. Pope
constrains his mind to his own rules of composition. Dryden is some
times vehement and rapid, Pope is always smooth, uniform, and level.
Dryden's page is a natural field rising into inequalities, and diversified

46 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

by the varied exuberance of abundant vegetation: Pope's is a velvet
lawn, shaven by the scythe, and levelled by the roller.

— DR. JOHNSON.

5. If you look about you, and consider the lives of others as well as
your own; if you think how few are born with honour, and how many
die without name or children; how little beauty we see, and how few
friends we hear of; how many diseases and how much poverty there
is in the world; you will fall down upon your knees, and, instead of
repining at your affliction, will admire so many blessings which you
have received at the hand of God.

— SIR WILLIAM TEMPLE.

6. On whatever side we contemplate Homer, what principally strikes
us is his invention.

7. Sitting last winter among my books, and walled around with all
the comfort and protection which they and my fireside could afford me,
to wit, a table of high-piled books at my back, my writing desk on one
side of me, some shelves on the other, and the feeling of the warm fire
at my feet, I began to consider how I loved the authors of these books.

— LEIGH HUNT.

CHAPTER V
DICTION

1. THE VOCABULAKY

Words are the material with which an author works, and
no author can write well who has a poor vocabulary. There
is a great difference in the size of the vocabulary used by
various authors; but every good writer has at his command
the words demanded by his subject and his style.

An author's vocabulary is often an index to his character
and interests. Every man accumulates words relating to the
subjects on which he talks, reads, and thinks most. "If
we should count, we should find that two men using about
the same number of words upon the whole, have the depths
and shallows of their verbal wealth at different places"
(Minto). A farmer uses fluently the language of the farm,
a lawyer that of the court-room, a mechanic that of the shop ;
and, as far as technical terms are concerned, they speak
different tongues.

Synonyms are, strictly, words that convey precisely the
same meaning; but practically no two words in a language
are precisely the same in both denotation and connotation.
If there is no other difference, one is learned and the other is
popular. De Quincey says: "All languages tend to clear
themselves of synonyms as intellectual culture advances,
the superfluous words being taken up and appropriated by
new shades and combinations of thought evolved in the

48 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

progress of society." The word synonym is loosely used
to designate words with the same general significance, fine
distinctions in meaning and usage being ignored. But the
best writers choose carefully among the words loosely listed
as synonyms, knowing that each has its individual shade
of meaning or its peculiar association, and that accurate
selection is therefore necessary.

We need not estimate for most authors, as has been done
for Shakespeare and Milton, the exact size of the vocabulary,
but we may observe by careful reading whether a writer is
able to express his thought without monotonous repetition
of words — whether he seems to have at his command all
the words he needs, and whether he makes fine distinc
tions in the use of them. If he is satisfactory in these re
spects, we may say that he has a copious vocabulary, and
is precise in his diction.

2. GENERAL AND SPECIFIC TERMS

General terms name classes; Specific terms name individ
uals under classes. The following sentences are sometimes
given in rhetorics as containing examples of general (1) and
specific (2) terms.

1. Consider the flowers. No king was ever arrayed like one of these.

2. Consider the lilies, how they grow. ... I say unto you that
Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these.

The following paragraph from C. D. Warner's My Sum
mer in a Garden contains other examples. Find them.

I left my garden for a week, just at the close of a dry spell. A
season of rain immediately set in, and when I returned the transforma
tion was wonderful. In one week every vegetable had fairly jumped

DICTION 49

forward. The tomatoes, which I had left slender plants, eaten of bugs
and debating whether they would go backward or forward, had become
stout and lusty, with thick stems and dark leaves, and some of them
had blossomed. The corn waved like that which grows so rank out of
the French-English mixture at Waterloo. The squashes — I will not
speak of the squashes. The most remarkable growth was the asparagus.
There was not a spear above the ground when I went away; and now
it had sprung up and gone to seed, and there were stalks higher than
my head.*

Why do the specific terms impress the mind so much more
strongly than the general terms in these sentences? Because
the specific terms bring to the mind definite pictures, and
the general terms do not. The word lily calls up the image
of a beautiful blossom, whiter and purer than any shining,
royal robe. The name Solomon calls to mind the splendor of
a rich Oriental monarch, beside whom George V and Alphonso
XIII are quite like plain, ordinary mortals. A writer will
do well, then, to use specific terms when he wishes to produce
images in the minds of his readers. In descriptive and
narrative writing, specific words are particularly useful.
Bryant appeals to the imagination (suggests pictures to the
reader) chiefly by means of specific nouns modified by
epithets. Any of his poems describing Nature will furnish
excellent examples of the power of specific terms in descrip
tion.

Nouns are not the only words that may be classed as
general or specific. In the following sentences (quoted from
Wendell's English Composition) the verbs are progressively
more specific, and the sentences become more forcible as the
manner of death is more exactly told.

Major Andre died.
Major Andre was killed.

* Used by permission of Messrs. Houghton Mifflin Company.

50 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Major Andre was executed.
Major Andre was hanged*

The following paragraph shows very well the descriptive
power of specific verbs.

Every country has its own rivers, and every river has its own quality;
and it is the part of wisdom to know and love as many as you can,
receiving from each the best it has to give. The torrents of Norway
leap down from their mountain homes with plentiful cataracts, and
run brief but glorious races to the sea. The streams of England move
smoothly through green fields and beside ancient, sleepy towns. The
Scotch rivers brawl through the open moorland and flash along steep
Highland glens. The rivers of the Alps are born in icy caves, from
which they issue forth with furious, turbid waters; but when their
anger has been forgotten in the slumber of some blue lake, they flow
down more softly to see the vineyards of France and Italy, the gray
castles of Germany, and the verdant meadows of Holland. The mighty
rivers of the West roll their yellow floods through broad valleys, or
plunge down dark canyons. The rivers of the South creep under dim
arboreal archways heavy with banners of waving moss.*

— VAN DYKE : Little Rivers.

But general terms, too, have their use. They are better
than specific terms — better because broader — in making
summaries and general statements regarding classes. They
are better when the writer desires, not to call up an image to
the imagination, but to express an abstract notion. General
terms are, therefore, particularly useful in some sorts of
expository writing.

3. LONG AND SHORT WORDS

There is no virtue in words because of their length or their
shortness. That word is, in general, best which is familiar to

* The quotations from Wendell and Van Dyke are used by kind permission
of Messrs. Charles Scribner's Sons, publishers of the books quoted.

DICTION 51

the reader and best expresses the author's meaning. Short
words are more apt to be familiar than their longer synonyms,
and are often preferable for that reason. They lend an air
of simplicity to the style. Long words, on the other hand,
give dignity to the style, and are sometimes to be preferred
for that reason. You will notice the long words in Bryant's
fine blank-verse poems. And you have observed the use of
some long words in Poe's Bells for musical and metrical
effect.

It is usually unnecessary to comment on the length of an
author's words, but occasionally one shows a decided pref
erence for long or short words, apparently merely because
of their length. Bunyan, in his Pilgrim's Progress, uses a
great proportion of words of one syllable; perhaps because
he was an unlettered man. Dr. Samuel Johnson seems to
have delighted in ponderous words; Goldsmith said of him
that, if he were to write a fable about little fishes, he would
make them all talk like whales.

Perhaps "popular" (or "familiar") and "learned" would be a
better classification of words than "short" and "long." Roughly the
two divisions coincide, though there are exceptional words.

4. DENOTATION AND CONNOTATION

The Denotation of a word is its actual meaning — its
dictionary definition. Its Connotation is the association it
suggests to us, over and above its actual meaning and defi
nition. Home may be defined as " one's dwelling-place or
residence." But the mere definition would never explain the
happy anticipations with which we exclaim, after an absence
of a few days, "I am going home to-morrow!" We do not
think merely of going to the house whose roof shelters

52 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

us; we think of all that the word home connotes — parents,
brothers, sisters, affection, happiness. It is the connotation
of the word — associations that no dictionary can enu
merate — that makes us love it.

The connotation of a word may, in time, become so prominent
that it actually becomes its commonest meaning, and is turned
into a real definition. Angel at first meant "a messenger." The
word was often used in speaking of a messenger of God. A messen
ger of God would naturally be a pure, holy, radiant, beautiful being.
It is this derived meaning — this suggestion or connotation — that
we have most often in mind now when we use the word angel, as in
saying of some one whom we greatly admire, "She is a perfect
angel!" And this connotation has finally become the meaning of
the word, i. e., the word has come to denote what it once only con
noted. (See the Century Dictionary, under angel.}

Since connotation depends on the association suggested, a
word may connote different things to different persons.
Home to most of us connotes love and happiness. But we
have all read of unfortunate children that have grown up in
the " slums" of our great cities, in the midst of vice and
wretchedness, without the love of parents and family. For
them there is no such pleasant connotation in the word home.
There may be a connotation of an opposite kind, if home is
the place where they receive the least kindness and the most
ill-treatment. But for every person that uses the English
language, home has the same denotation — " one's dwelling-
place, or residence."

It is as important for an author to consider the connotation
of his words as to consider the denotation. If a word has
pleasant associations, he ennobles the person or thing that
he applies it to; if it has unpleasant associations, he degrades
the person or thing that he applies it to. It is as bad to call a

DICTION 53

man a Benedict Arnold or a Uriah Heep as to call him a
traitor, or a hypocritical liar and thief. The word hang has
such evil associations that the sentence "Major Andre was
hanged" is an arraignment of the unfortunate man's char
acter until the circumstances of the execution are explained.

5. POETIC DICTION

Since poetry (more than any other sort of literature) is ad
dressed to the imagination and the emotions, it requires
certain peculiarities of diction to help it fulfil its special
office. It requires, also, some indulgence because it must
be constructed with regard to metrical laws and rime —
limitations to which even the most literary prose is not sub
ject. Literary prose, however, as it approaches the feeling
and the exaltation of poetry, may also use to some extent the
poetic style of diction. Some of the peculiarities of poetic
diction are given in the following paragraphs.

1. When we express intense feeling or excitement we usu
ally abridge the grammatical structure of our sentences. An
exclamatory sentence is often elliptical. In poetry words
are sometimes omitted under the emotional stress, and
sometimes for the sake of the meter. In descriptive poetry
it is often wise to omit copula, connectives, and other com
paratively insignificant words readily understood, that
stress may be laid on the words rhetorically more effective.
In the descriptive lines of the following stanzas by Philip
Bourke Marston, Thy Garden, only the picturing words are
present; verbs are conspicuously absent.

Pure moonlight in thy garden, sweet, tonight —
Pure moonlight in thy garden, and the breath

Of fragrant roses! Oh my heart's delight,

Wed thou with Love, but I will wed with Death.

54 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Dawn in thy garden, with the faintest sound, —

Uncertain, tremulous, awaking birds!
Dawn in thy garden, and from meadows round,

The sudden lowing of expectant herds.

Wind in thy garden tonight, my love,

Wind in thy garden and rain;
A sound of storm in the shaken grove,

And cries as of spirits in pain!

Snow in thy garden, falling thick and fast,
Snow in thy garden, where the grass shall be!

What dreams tonight? Thy dreaming nights are past,
Thou hast no glad or grievous memory.

Night in thy garden, white with snow and sleet,
Night rushing on with wind and storm toward day!

Alas, thy garden holdeth nothing sweet,
Nor sweet can come again, and thou away.

Connectives of all sorts are freely omitted, for economy of
expression and to make the meter. In this example the
relative pronoun is not expressed:

And you may gather garlands there
Would grace a summer queen.

The preposition is omitted before whom in,

Grant me still a friend in my retreat,
Whom I may whisper, "Solitude is sweet."

The main subject is omitted for the sake of meter in the
opening sentence of Burns's famous poem:

Is there for honest poverty
That hangs his head and a' that?

That is, "Is there anyone who hangs his head in shame be
cause of honest poverty?"

2. Words in forms shortened by the omission of a syllable
are sometimes used by the poet for the sake of meter: oft,

DICTION 55

o'er, marge, list, mount, e'er, ne'er, 'neath, 'twixt. Here may
be mentioned also such poetic contractions as 'twere, 'twas,
'tis.

3. A poet sometimes uses a genitive where a prose writer
would use an o/-phrase. This briefer expression and change
in the order and relation of accents helps the poet make his
meter.

And the barn's brown length.

The sundown's blaze on the window-pane.

— WHITTIER: Telling the Bees.

Beside the snowbank's edges cold.

— BRYANT: The Yellow Violet.

4. Poetic Compounds are sometimes coined, for economy
of expression, and to suit the meter.

The cleft-born wildflower.

— BRYANT: Inscription for the Entrance to a Wood.

The grief-shadowed present.

— BRYANT: The Flood of Years.

The hills, rock-ribbed and ancient.
The all-beholding sun.

— BRYANT: Thanatopsis.

The earth-o'erlooking mountains.

— BRYANT: Monument Mountains.

5. Archaic words are retained for poetic use when quite
obsolete in prose. They stimulate the imagination by taking
the reader out of the commonplace atmosphere of every-day
life. Here belong, among other obsolescent words, the old
forms of the pronouns (ihou, thy, thee, ye), and the -est
and -eth forms of the verb.

56 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

He giveth his beloved sleep.

— MRS. BROWNING.

There was a dwelling of kings, ere the world was waxen old.

— WM. MORRIS.

6. Words are changed from one part of speech to another.
In "the great deep" a descriptive adjective is used for the
noun ocean, which it describes. In "bleeding drops of red,"
the adjective is used for the noun blood, the quality is named
for the object.

7. Epithets are of great value in both poetry and literary
prose. They are descriptive adjectives, but they are not
mere descriptive adjectives. The mere adjectives help the
reader form a correct image of the object described: white
(horse), tall (man), pretty (girl). The epithet emphasizes
some quality or characteristic of the object that the poet
wishes the reader at the moment to have in mind. It is
used more for its suggestive effect than for the actual in
formation it conveys. Such is the purpose of Bryant in the
use of the Decorative Epithets in his Forest Hymn and Than-
atopsis: winding (aisles), clear (spring), dim (vaults), woody
(wilderness), darkling (forest), insensible (rock), sluggish
(clod).

Essential Epithets name some quality that of necessity
belongs to the object. They seem almost tautological; they
are so in meaning, but they serve some rhetorical purpose in
their context: wet (waves), white (milk).

Conventional Epithets are used as a matter of custom, the
adjective being a usual attendant on the noun whenever
the latter occurs. The Greeks regularly spoke of Aurora
as "Rosy-fingered Dawn, daughter of the Morning." The
English ballads sing always of merry men, fair ladies, bonny

DICTION 57

brides, and good steeds. Perhaps the expressions "nut-brown
ale" and "sturdy oak" have become conventional in our
poetry.

Phrasal Epithets are whole phrases, or even clauses, in a
nut-shell, and by virtue of" their economy in expression are
useful in making the meter, as well as for their condensed
descriptive force. See Keats's "viewless wings of poetry,"
i. e., those that cannot be viewed, or seen. Many poetic-
compounds are used as phrasal epithets: (the) all-beholding
(sun); (the) century-living (crow); (the) earth-o'erlooking
(mountains) .

Epithets may help to produce unity in the atmosphere of
a poem. Read Bryant's Forest Hymn, and observe how
by the use of decorative epithets he keeps constantly be
fore us his conception of and feeling for the forest.

EXERCISES ON DICTION

1. Find the definitions of the following words; then explain what
connotation they have for you: giant, fairy, gnome, brownie, patriot,
traitor, patriarch, mother, Republican, Democrat, Yankee, Englishman,
foreigner.

2. Find and classify the epithets in the following poems: —
Bryant — The Prairies.

Lowell — To the Dandelion.

3. Study specific words and epithets in: —
Bryant — Green River.

Bryant — June.

Bryant — The Evening Wind.

Emerson — The Humble-Bee.

CHAPTER VI
FIGURES OF SPEECH

1. LITERAL AND FIGURATIVE LANGUAGE

We have now to consider the difference between literal
and figurative expression.

"The soldier is strong and brave." This sentence means
exactly what it says. It is perfectly matter-of-fact, i. e., it
is a literal statement.

"The soldier is a perfect lion in battle." Of course this
does not mean that the soldier is exactly a lion, with four
feet and a shaggy mane; but he has the unusual courage and
strength that we associate in our thought with the king of
beasts. Such less direct manner of expression is figurative;
it contains a Figure of Speech.

Literature is full of figures; for the well-chosen figure,
through its power of suggestion, stimulates the reader's
imagination and adds greatly to the force of expression.

In our daily language, also, we use many figures.

There are fifty sails (ships having sails) on the bay.
A red-coat (a man wearing one) rode up.

The boy broke loose from authority (as a colt breaks away from his
post).

I was tied up at home (as a horse is tied to a post).

It is interesting to know that some of our prosiest, most
matter-of-fact words originated in figures. Language has
been called "a bunch of faded metaphors."

FIGURES OF SPEECH 59

That we may better understand how to interpret the
figures of speech, we shall divide them into a number of
classes. Most of these classes are called by Greek names,
for the Greek rhetoricians were the founders of our study of
figures. The names may seem a little difficult, but it is
always convenient to have names for things we must talk
about, and we are obliged to use the nomenclature we find
in the language. The important thing, however, is not to
know the names merely, but to learn to interpret the figures
so that we shall grasp their meaning and feel their strength.

2. FIGURES OF COMPARISON

1. While from my path the hare
Fled like a shadow.

— LONGFELLOW: The Skeleton in Armor.

2. She speaks poniards, and every word stabs.

— SHAKESPEARE : King Lear.

3. As the hart panteth after the water-brooks, so panteth my soul
after thee, O Lord.

— The Psalms.

4. Like a beauteous barge was she,
Just beyond the billow's reach.
But he

Was the restless, seething, stormy sea.

— LONGFELLOW: The Building of the Ship.

5. Long ago,

In the deer-haunted forests of Maine,

When upon mountain and plain

Lay the snow,

They fell, — those lordly pines!

Those grand, majestic pines!

' Mid shouts and cheers

The jaded steers,

Panting beneath the goad,

60 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Dragged down the weary, winding road

Those captive kings so straight and tall,

To be shorn of their streaming hair,

And, naked and bare,

To feel the stress and the strain

Of the wind and the reeling main,

Whose roar

Would remind them forever more

Of their native forests they should not see again.

— LONGFELLOW: The Building of the Ship.

Let us study the comparisons in these quotations. We
notice about them, first, that they are not literal. In reality
a hare is not like a shadow (1), nor a maiden like a barge (4).
In each comparison the things compared seem, at first glance,
strangely coupled, because they belong to quite different
classes. But, on further study, they reveal, in spite of their
differences, some point of likeness, which brings them to
gether. The shadow cast by a cloud is like a hare in the
silence and swiftness of its movement. The beautiful young
woman, on the eve of her wedding-day, was about to begin
a new life, just as the graceful, newly-built ship on the shore
was waiting to begin its career on the sea.

These are all figurative comparisons. They are to be
interpreted not simply by our matter-of-fact reason, but by
our imagination. And our interpretation of them depends
on our clear recognition of the point of likeness in the two
things compared. Until we have had considerable experience
in the study of literature, it is well for us to state accurately
the meaning of the figurative comparison, that we may not
fall into the bad habit of reading vaguely.

Figures of comparison that contain some word indicating
comparison (as, like, resemble, etc.) are called Similes. We
find similes in the quotations numbered 1, 3, 4. Explain the

INTERIOR VIEWS OF HENRY VII's CHAPEL, WESTMINSTER ABBEY

FIGURES OF SPEECH 61

simile in 3 as those in 1 and 4 are explained above, stating
clearly what two things are compared, and in what respect
they are alike.

We shall need to be careful in order not to confuse the
simile and the literal comparison.

Tom, like his brother Jack, is tall.

Here we speak in a perfectly literal way of two boys, Tom and
Jack. The simile is a comparison of things belonging to
entirely different classes:

That soldier was like a lion.

These things of different classes are brought together by the
imagination because of a certain likeness.

Some of the quotations above contain a comparison and
yet express no word of comparison (like, as, etc.). Number 2
means : She speaks words that hurt the ' spirit as poniards
hurt the body. In 4 the youth is compared to the sea be
cause he is full of energy and action. In 5 the pines are
called " kings" because they stood in the forest as upright
and stately as a royal person ("lordly," "majestic"); and
their fall and passage to the river reminds the poet of the
humiliating progress of vanquished and captive kings in
the triumphal procession of a Roman emperor.

These comparisons are called Metaphors. They differ
from the simile in containing no word of comparison (like,
as). An object of one class is called by a name literally
belonging to an object of another class; one thing is spoken of
in terms used literally for a thing quite different, the two
things being brought together in the imagination of the
writer by some point of resemblance.

62 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

A metaphor sometimes affects the diction of a writer for
some lines. In 5 the words lordly, majestic, captive, shorn,
hair, naked are brought into the poem because of the refer
ence to kings, barbarian chieftains once dignified and power
ful, now insulted and led in triumph behind the chariot of
the conqueror.

The correct interpretation of the metaphor, like that of
the simile, depends on the clear recognition of the point of
likeness in the two things compared, which, in the metaphor
as well as in the simile, must belong to different classes.

The metaphor is a stronger figure than the simile, because,
being without the word of likeness, it is more condensed,
and the interpretation of it requires greater concentration
of thought. It is more stimulating to the imagination than
the simile. However, even in the strongest passages, when
a metaphor would not be perfectly clear, an author uses a
simile. Sometimes a simile begins a comparison and a
metaphor continues it, as in quotation 4; the maiden is com
pared in simile to a barge, and her lover in metaphor to the
sea. The latter part of the poem continues the metaphor
at some length, and also presents its reverse, comparing the
ship to the maiden and the sea to her bridegroom.

A third figure of comparison is found, though it is much
less common than simile and metaphor.

And first, with nicest skill and art,
Perfect and finished in every part,
A little model the Master wrought,
Which should be to the larger plan
What the child is to the man,
Its counterpart in miniature.

— LONGFELLOW: The Building of the Ship.

Here is expressed not a likeness of qualities, as in simile and

FIGURES OF SPEECH 63

metaphor, but a likeness of relations. We have an Analogy,
which might be indicated by a proportion of four members:

the model: the ship:: the child: the man.
Another example is found in these lines from Longfellow's
The Day is Done.

A feeling of sadness and longing
That is not akin to pain,
And resembles sorrow only
As the mist resembles rain.

Here the proportion is:

this feeling: sorrow:: mist: rain.

There is still a fourth figure of comparison. Read Bryant's
poem called The Yellow Violet, and observe carefully the
author's attitude toward nature. He applies to the violet
terms that belong to human qualities and actions: modest,
gentle, humble, smile. He speaks of spring as having hands
and planting the violet, as if spring were a gardener. The
sun, whose warm rays brought the flower into existence, is
its parent, who feeds and cares for it and demands from it
obedience ("bade"). The taller, gayer flowers are haughty
and flaunting. Of all these objects Bryant speaks in terms
belonging literally to creatures having life, intelligence, and
personality. He personifies the violet, the other flowers, the
sun, Spring; that is, he speaks of them as if they were persons.

Other examples of Personification are:

The mountains and the hills shall break forth before you into singing,
and all the trees of the field shall clap their hands.

— Isaiah 55:1 2.

Nature through all her works gave signs of woe.

— MILTON: Paradise Lost.

64 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envielh not; charity
vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up; doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh
not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; rejoiceth not in iniq
uity, but rejoiceth in the truth; beareth all things, believeth all things,
hopeth all things, endureth all things.

— I Corinthians 13:4-7.

Personification gives inanimate things or abstractions the
attributes of life and personality. The origin of the figure
in the feeling of the writer we may gather from a few lines
of Whittier's Snow-Bound.

We minded that the sharpest ear
The buried brooklet could not hear,
The music of whose liquid lip
Had been to us companionship,
And, in our lonely life, had grown
To have an almost human tone.

The figure evidently grows out of the author's sympathy
with and love for nature and the inanimate world. It rouses
in the reader the same sympathy and love, and therefore
strengthens the writing. Moreover, it adds to the "dignity
of the passage, by raising a lower order of creation or an
abstraction to the level of a living, thinking, willing being.

Personification is a sort of general metaphor — a com
parison of some lower creature to a human being. Many
metaphors and similes involve personification, because they,
too, compare a lower creature to a human being. It is best
to call the figure simile or metaphor when the comparison
is specific instead of general; e. g. when pines are compared to
kings, and are not simply given universal human attributes
or characteristics. But the personification involved in this
metaphor justifies the use later of the words feel, remind, see.

FIGURES OF SPEECH 65

3. APOSTROPHE AND VISION

A figure often (not always) associated with personification
is Apostrophe. This is the figure in which a writer or speaker
addresses absent persons as though they were present, or
inanimate things as though they could hear and understand.
The address is figurative, not literal, because the person or
thing addressed is not expected to hear; the writer exercises
the imagination in making the address. Bryant's The Yellow
Violet is an apostrophe to that flower. He has written, also,
an apostrophe To the Fringed Gentian. These apostrophes
involve personification, because the flowers are addressed as
if they were human. Others are:

Roll on, thou deep and dark blue ocean, roll!
A thousand fleets sweep over thee in vain.

— BYRON: Childe Harold.
Go, lovely rose,

Tell her that wastes her time and me,
That now she knows
When I resemble her to thee
How sweet and fair she seems to be.

— WALLER.

No personification is involved in David's lament for
Absalom :

Would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

A figure similar to apostrophe is Vision. An author uses
vision when he declares that he sees objects not actually
present before him. He employs this figure to bring the past
or the absent vividly before himself and his readers or
hearers.

Methinks I see it now — that one solitary, adventurous vessel,
the Mayflower of a forlorn hope, freighted with the prospects of a

66 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

future state, and bound across the unknown sea. I behold it pursuing
with a thousand misgivings the uncertain, the tedious voyage. I see
them now, scantily supplied with provisions; crowded almost to suffoca
tion in their ill-stored prison; delayed by calms, pursuing a circuitous
route. The awful voice of the storm howls through the rigging; the
laboring masts seem straining from their base; the dismal sound of the
pump is heard; the ship leaps, as it were, madly from billow to billow;
the ocean breaks and settles with ingulfing floods over the floating deck,
and beats with deadening, shivering weight against the staggering ves
sel.

— EDWARD EVERETT.

See also Tennyson's The Miller's Daughter.

The verbs in such passages are used in the present tense —
"the historical present" — for the purpose of bringing the
picture vividly before the imagination.

Sometimes a writer imagines that he hears, instead of sees,
things past or absent, and therefore not literally audible.

I hear even now the infinite fierce chorus,

The cries of agony, the endless groan,
Which, through the ages that have gone before us,

In long reverberations reach our own.

— LONGFELLOW: The Arsenal at Springfield.

4. FIGURES OF ASSOCIATION

When the figure of Synecdoche is used, some striking part
of the object is named instead of the object itself; or, less
often, the whole is named for a part. This figure occurs
frequently in common language: a thousand head of cattle;
a hundred sails, eighteen summers old, a factory employing
thirty hands. These expressions refer, of course, to the cattle
themselves, the ships, the years, the workmen. In the sen
tence, "All the world was pleased," the whole is named for
a part, since it is only the people of the world who are pleased.

FIGURES OF SPEECH 67

Synecdoche is found in a verb when a specific act is men
tioned instead of the notion of living in general.

All that tread

The globe are but a handful to the tribes
That slumber in its bosom.

— BRYANT.

A writer (or speaker) uses Metonymy when he names, in
stead of the object he has in mind, something closely asso
ciated with it or accompanying it. This is also a common
figure in every-day language.

Gray hairs (old age) are honorable.

The kettle (the water in the kettle) boils.

They sat around the festive board (table made of boards).

She sets a good table (the things on the table are good).

He assumed the scepter (the power which the scepter symbolizes).

I am reading Milton (books which Milton wrote).

The thing named is so closely associated in our mind with
the thing intended that the mention of one calls up the other.
Metonymy names the cause for the effect, the effect for the
cause, the container for the thing contained, the sign for the
thing symbolized, the material for the article made of it, the
producer for the thing produced.

5. SOME GENERAL REMARKS ON FIGURES

The primary use of figures of speech is to strengthen ex
pression by association. The figure stimulates the imagina
tion of the reader, and enables the writer to say more vigor
ously and effectively what he wishes to say.

"Figures add also beauty to the style. It is artistic to make expres
sion as suggestive as possible, and the image called up by the figure is
often beautiful in itself."

68 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

We ennoble an idea when we connect with it some exalted
image; and we degrade an idea when we connect with it a
lower one.

It is interesting to observe the sources of an author's
figures. They reveal the breadth of his interest and knowl
edge. He may take them from nature, from human life,
from science, from books. The things he is most interested
in are, naturally, most readily called up in his mind to be
used in comparison. The number of figures he uses will show
whether his mind is apt in comparing, associating, relating,
or whether he sees objects and facts absolutely, for and in
themselves alone.

PRACTICE IN FIGURES

One should not be satisfied with the mere naming of figures. One
should be able to state clearly what two things are compared, and
what the point of likeness is; to tell for what whole the name of the
part stands, etc.

1. I just squeezed through that examination.

2. One generation blows bubbles, and the next breaks them.

— COWPER.

3. Poor man! I know he would not be a wolf,
But that he sees the Romans are but sheep :
He were no lion, were not the Romans hinds.

— SHAKESPEARE : Julius Ccesar.

4. A sudden little river cross'd my path,
As unexpected as a serpent comes.

— BROWNING.

5. Youth is a garland of roses; age is a crown of thorns.

— TALMUD.

6. Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain-tops.

— SHAKESPEARE: Romeo and Juliet, III, 5, 9-10.

FIGURES OF SPEECH 69

7. In that calm, Syrian afternoon, Memory, a pensive Ruth, went
gleaning the silent fields of childhood, and found the scattered grain
still golden, and the morning sunlight fresh and fair.

— G. W. CURTIS.

8. I was hammering away at my lessons when Jack called.

9. Government patronage should not be so dispensed as to train
up a population to the one pursuit of boring gimlet-holes into the
treasury, and then of seeking to enlarge them, as rapidly as possible,
into auger holes.

10. Her angel's face,

As the great eye of heaven, shined bright,
And made a sunshine in the shady place.

— SPENSER.

11. My May of life

Is fallen into the sere, the yellow leaf.

— SHAKESPEARE.

12. Friendship is not a plant of hasty growth,
Though planted in esteem's deep fixed soil;
The gradual culture of kind intercourse
Must bring it to perfection.

— JOANNA BAILLIE.

13. Shakespeare himself would have been commonplace had he been
paddocked in a thinly-shaven vocabulary.

— LOWELL.

14. Wordsworth's longer poems are Egyptian sand-wastes, with here
and there an oasis of exquisite greenery, a grand image, Sphinx-like,
half-buried in drifting commonplaces, or the solitary Pompey's Pillar
of some towering thought.

— LOWELL.

15. There is much that is deciduous in books, but all that gives them
a title to rank as literature in the highest sense is perennial.

— LOWELL.

16. The conscious water saw its Lord and blushed.

70 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

17. For very young he seemed, tenderly reared;

Like some young cypress, tall, and dark, and straight.

— M. ARNOLD.

18. Break, break, break,

At the foot of thy crags, O sea!

— TENNYSON.

19. Ships that pass in the night, and speak each other in passing,
Only a signal shown, and a distant voice in the darkness;

So on the ocean of life we pass and speak one another,
Only a look and a voice, then darkness again and a silence.

— LONGFELLOW.

20. Strike for your altars and your fires!

21. How far that little candle throws its beams!
So shines a good deed in a naughty world.

— SHAKESPEARE: The Merchant of Venice.

22. The day is done; and slowly from the scene
The stooping sun upgathers his spent shafts,
And puts them back into his golden quiver.

— LONGFELLOW.

23. The depth saith, It is not in me: and the sea saith, It is not with
me.

— Job 28:14.

24. If you blow your neighbor's fire, don't complain when the sparks
fly in your face.

25. Faith builds a bridge across the gulf of Death.

— YOUNG.

26. Explain the figures in Longfellow's Maidenhood.

27. Explain the figures in Tennyson's Crossing the Bar.

CHAPTER VII
VARIOUS QUALITIES OF STYLE AND KINDS OF WRITING

1. WIT AND HUMOR

Writings that amuse us and make us smile or laugh have
Humor. A humorist is usually a kind-hearted person, who
presents the ridiculous or incongruous aspect of his subject in
a perfectly genial spirit.

One of our best humorists is Washington Irving, and
from his writings we may illustrate some of the common
ways of presenting a subject humorously.

An author may present a trivial, sordid, or commonplace
subject with the diction and in the manner suited to a
serious, important one — using long words and words of
serious meaning, dignified periods, and noble comparisons.
He then writes in the mock-heroic style.

In speaking of Rip Van Winkle's character, Irving says:

Those men are most apt to be obsequious and conciliating abroad
who are under the discipline of shrews at home. Their tempers, doubt
less, are rendered pliant and malleable in the fiery furnace of domestic
tribulation, and a curtain lecture is worth all the sermons in the world
for teaching the virtues of patience and long-suffering. The great error
in Rip's composition was an insuperable aversion to all kinds of prof
itable labor.

Again, speaking of the group of gossiping idlers in the little
Dutch village, Irving uses such expressions as these:

It would have been worth any statesman's money to have heard

72 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the profound discussions; how sagely they would deliberate; the opinions
of this junto were controlled by Nicholas Vedder, a patriarch of the
village; that august personage, Nicholas Vedder.

Of Ichabod Crane Irving writes:

The gallant Ichabod now spent at least an extra half-hour at his
toilet. . . . That he might make his appearance before his mistress in
the true style of a cavalier, he borrowed a horse, — and thus gallantly
mounted issued forth like a knight-errant in quest of adventures. . . . But
it is meet I should, in true spirit of romantic story, give some account of
the looks and equipments of my hero and his steed.

We can hardly call Irving ironical or sarcastic here; he is
too good-natured. He uses this grandiloquent style merely
to make Ichabod and Rip as amusing to us as they were to
him.

We sometimes read articles that are unconsciously humor
ous in the way we are now considering. During the base
ball season not many years ago, a daily paper in a large city
printed in an editorial and with all seriousness the following
paragraph about a favorite pitcher :

And behind them stands B- D-, the man who is to base-ball what
Shakespeare was to poetry, what Alexander the Great was to conquest,
what Columbus was to discovery, what Whistler was to art — the
master.

Humor often rises from association of the subject with
the ridiculous or incongruous, through figures of speech or
through the connotation of words.

The cognomen of Crane was not inapplicable to his person. He
was tall, but exceedingly lank, with narrow shoulders, long arms and
legs, hands that dangled a mile out of his sleeves, feet that might have
served for shovels, and his whole frame most loosely hung together.
His head was small, and flat at the top, with huge ears, large, green,

VARIOUS QUALITIES OF STYLE 73

glassy eyes, and a long snipe nose, so that it looked like a weather-cock
perched upon his spindle neck, to tell which way the wind blew. To see
him striding along the profile of a hill on a windy day, with his clothes
bagging and fluttering about him, one might have mistaken him for the
genius of famine descending upon the earth, or some scare-crow eloped
from a corn-field. . . . He rode with short stirrups, which brought his
knees nearly up to the pommel of the saddle; his sharp elbows stuck
out like grasshoppers'; he carried his whip perpendicularly in his hand,
like a sceptre, and as the horse jogged on, the motion of his arms was
not unlike the flapping of a pair of wings.

Humor may arise from the relation of events humorous in
themselves, as in Irving's Legend of Sleepy Hollow, and in
Mark Twain's Tramp Abroad and Innocents Abroad.

Wit is keener, more cutting than humor. " Its thrust must,
then, be quick and sharp." Much of its effect comes from
putting something before us in a new and unexpected light.
Witticisms are produced by brilliant minds, keenly analytic.

A witty remark often makes the point of an anecdote.

A king, disturbed by the importunities of an officer, exclaimed im
patiently, "You are the most troublesome officer in my whole army!"
" Your majesty's enemies have often said the same thing," retorted the
officer quickly.

A judge threatened to fine a lawyer for contempt of court. "I
have not been guilty of any such offense," flashed back the lawyer;
"I have carefully concealed my feelings."

An Epigram, or brief, pointed saying, is a form of wit.
It often contains an apparent contradiction.

Beauty unadorned is adorned the most.
She is conspicuous for her absence.
A Pun is a play on words.

74 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

"Thy mistress leads thee a dog's life of it," said Rip Van Winkle to his
dog Wolf.

When Shylock was sharpening his knife on his shoe to cut
the pound of flesh from Antonio, Gratiano cried,

Not on thy sole, but on thy soul, harsh Jew,
Thou mak'st thy knife keen.

Romeo, pierced at first sight of Juliet by the dart of Cupid,
declared,

I am too sore empierced with his shaft

To soar with his light feathers; and so bound

I cannot bound a pitch above dull woe.

— SHAKESPEARE : Romeo and Juliet, I, 4, 18-20.

The pun was a favorite device in certain styles of Eliz
abethan diction.

2. PATHOS

Humor moves us to laughter. Its opposite is Pathos, which
moves us to pity and tears. The death of the gentle Beth
in Miss Alcott's Little Women is a pathetic incident.

Both humor and pathos must occur in literature — even
at times in the same book; for some varieties of literature
are intended to picture a considerable section of life, and
life offers every person both amusement and sorrow.

3. HYPERBOLE

Hyperbole means "exaggeration." It is plainly not to be
taken literally, and an author using it has, therefore, no
intention to deceive. He uses a strong statement to stim
ulate the imagination to a just picture of the thing described.
Irving, doubtless, uses hyperbole in his description of Ichabod

VARIOUS QUALITIES OF STYLE 75

Crane (see above), but he has chosen an excellent method
to make us imagine the exceeding awkwardness and ungain-
liness of his " hero." " The waves smote the stars of heaven,"
says Virgil, describing a great storm; and we understand that
the waves ran as high as waves could mount.

4. IRONY, SARCASM, SATIRE

Irony is ridicule in the words of praise, or praise in terms
of ridicule or blame. The writer (speaker) means the exact
opposite of what he says; the true significance is clearly
indicated by the context, the tone of voice, or in some other
unmistakable way.

No doubt but ye are the people, and wisdom shall die with you!

— Job 12:2.

Some boys are discussing a bright classmate, and one of them says,
ironically, "John is terribly stupid, he is!"

Sarcasm is bitter irony, sharp and cutting. Perhaps the
quotation above from Job has a touch of sarcasm. Mark
Antony thus expresses his indignation against the Roman
conspirators : —

Here, under leave of Brutus and the rest

(For Brutus is an honorable man,

So are they all, all honorable men)

Come I to speak at Caesar's funeral.

He was my friend, faithful and just to me:

But Brutus says he was ambitious;

And Brutus is an honorable man.

— SHAKESPEARE : Julius Ccesar.

A Satire is a piece of literature intended to overwhelm
a person or a cause with ridicule and sarcasm. Satires are
not usually in the highest class of literature, because they
are concerned with feelings that belong to a certain period of

76 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

social or political history, rather than with those of universal
and permanent interest; and when the period or the move
ment in connection with which they were written passes by,
its literature passes with it. The great English satires were
written in connection with the personal and political quarrels
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and are not of
much general interest today. A well-written satire is, how
ever, of great influence while the question with which it deals
has living interest. Lowell's Biglow Papers, First Series, in
tensified in New England opposition to the Mexican War.

CHAPTER VIII
ALLUSIONS AND HOW TO STUDY THEM

We have already seen that the mind is apt to compare and
associate one thing with another, and that such comparison
and association often produces figures of speech. But all
the associations of the mind and imagination do not reveal
themselves in figurative language. A student of books is
likely to be reminded by his thoughts of observations and
expressions he has read, and when he writes he frequently
refers, or alludes, to these. Facts of history, biography,
science — whatever interests a man — are suggested to him
by his more original thought, and furnish him with the allu
sions that enrich his writing. We can learn a great deal
about an author's mind and range of reading by observing
the sources of his allusions.

We do not understand what we read unless we understand
the allusions it contains, and what purpose the writer had in
view when he made each of his allusions. Each should be
studied for its definite relation to the context, as each simile
and metaphor is studied for its definite point of comparison.
When we explain an allusion we should not give an ac
count as long as an encyclopedia article on the subject re
ferred to, but we should state clearly and concisely the one
point which the author had in mind when he made the
reference.

Bryant in Thanatopsis writes these lines:

78 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Take the wings

Of morning, pierce the Barcan wilderness,
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods
Where rolls the Oregon, and hears no sound
Save his own dashings — yet the dead are there.

We wish to know what the poet means by alluding to the
" Barcan wilderness" and the "Oregon." If we discuss all
that history and geography might teach us of these names,
we shall wander hopelessly away from Bryant's poem. All
we need to dwell on is that one is far east, the other far west,
and that Bryant selected them as specific examples of un
inhabited places. The thesis of his poem is this: The earth
is only the great and magnificent tomb of the human race.
"O, but," some reader might object, "that can't be true;
parts of it are not even inhabited." "Yes," insists the poet,
anticipating the thought of his reader; "even the desert and
the pathless forest — the uttermost parts of the earth —
are full of graves."

We should never allow our study of allusions to spoil the
unity of our poem or story. We must grasp the point of the
allusion, and ignore for the time all the rest of the information
we may have gained about the subject referred to.

A well-edited text will explain for us, in its notes, many
of its author's allusions. But we do not wish always to be
dependent on an editor or another person, and sometimes
we have no notes. It is well, therefore, for us to know how
to consult various books of reference. The librarian of the
school or of the public library can best tell us what books are
accessible for reference. A good dictionary, an encyclopedia,
and a cyclopedia of proper names are indispensable. These
books will usually give a starting-point, and will suggest
what more special works may be used in tracing out any

ALLUSIONS AND HOW TO STUDY THEM 79

allusion. The books most commonly referred to are usually
well worth knowing for their own sake, and, once mastered,
give no further difficulty. Such a book is the Arabian Nights;
everyone should know so well at least the story of Aladdin
that an allusion to it is understood as quickly as it is read.

The two chief sources of allusions in English literature
are classic mythology and the King James version of the
Bible. With these sources every student should become as
familiar as possible. He should also have at hand a good
text on mythology (like Gayley's or Fairbanks'), so that he
may look up at any time an unfamiliar reference he may
chance upon. Although a school-book is not the place to
recommend the Bible as a book of religion, it is entirely
within the province of a book on literature to call attention
to its literary importance. Since the national book of religion
will naturally be widely read, it is most fortunate for us that
the Biblical translation accepted as the standard for three
hundred years was made in the simplest, purest, most
dignified of English. The charm of its style did not escape
persons of literary taste and feeling, and its influence is felt
in the phraseology and manner of our best writers. Its
characters, too, and its stories are so frequently alluded to
that one cannot afford to be ignorant of them; and one should
know how to use Biblical concordances and indexes as well
as he uses other reference books.

For references to saints and to the legends of the early
Christian church Mrs. Jameson's books are very useful:
Legends of the Madonna, Legends of the Monastic Orders,
Sacred and Legendary Art (2 vol.).

Quotations are often more difficult to trace than simple
allusions. There are books (e. g. Bartlett's Familiar Quota
tions} that place for us many of the common ones, and a

80 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

writer sometimes names or indicates by the context what
book he is quoting. Phrases that are not exact quotations
but echoes of the phraseology of another must be recognized
by general knowledge and experience in reading. There are
no direct quotations from Milton in Collins's Ode to livening,
but one familiar with L' Allegro and II Penseroso feels in
every line of the Ode the influence of the great master.

CHAPTER IX
THOUGHT AND STYLE

We have been studying the principles that underlie literary
expression, and we may have felt sometimes that we have
been studying the body of literature instead of its soul. Why
pay such careful attention to style? Because the style is as
much a part of the poem or the story as the thought is, just
as a man's physical traits and habits are as much a part of
his personality as his mental characteristics are. Indeed,
style and thought are as intimately connected as body and
soul.

Style is good when it is suitable to the thought it expresses;
it is poor when it is unsuitable. We are not to imagine that
a great writer says to himself, "I will put a simile here and a
metaphor there." He works rather by instinct, his unerring
good taste — which is so important an element of his ge
nius — guiding him to the most appropriate expression of
his thought. Because of this close connection between the
thought and its expression, we cannot learn to appreciate
literature properly without cultivating a feeling for style.

The superior character of truth and seriousness, in the matter and
substance of the best poetry, is inseparable from the superiority of dic
tion and movement marking its style and manner. The two superiori
ties are closely related, and are in stedfast proportion one to the other.

— M. ARNOLD: The Study of Poetry.

And yet we should miss the most abiding and profitable

82 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

part of literary study if we should content ourselves with
the study of style alone, without reference to the thought.
Such a study could be nothing more than a mere mechanical
listing of figures, words, sentences, and metrical devices —
a study not in the least worth while. Style is a means to an
end, and should be studied as such. It exists for the expres
sion of thought.

Epictetus had a happy figure for things like the play of the senses,
or literary form and finish, or argumentative ingenuity, in comparison
with 'the best and master thing' for us, as he called it, the concern, how
to live. Some people were afraid of them, he said, or they disliked or
undervalued them. Such people were wrong; they were unthankful or
cowardly. But the things might also be overprized, and treated as final,
when they are not. They bear to life the relation which inns bear to
home. 'As if a man, journeying home, and finding a nice inn on the
road, and liking it, were to stay forever at the inn! Man, thou hast
forgotten thine object; thy journey was not to this but through this.
"But this inn is taking." And how many other inns, too, are taking,
and how many fields and meadows! but as places of passage merely.
You have an object, which is this: to get home, to do your duty to your
family, friends, and fellow-countrymen, to attain inward freedom,
serenity, happiness, contentment. Style takes your fancy, arguing
takes your fancy, and you forget your home and want to make your
abode with them and stay with them, on the plea that they are taking.
Who denies that they are taking? but as places of passage, as inns.
And when I say this, you suppose me to be attacking the care for style,
the care for argument. I am not; I attack the resting in them, the not
looking to the end which is beyond them.'

— M. ARNOLD: Wordsworth.

Though thought is the thing of ultimate importance in
literature, it is not as easily classified as the elements and
qualities of style, and there is less that can be said about it in
a text-book. We may, however, ask the question, "What
kind of thought is found in literature? What is it about?"

THOUGHT AND STYLE 83

In the essay on Wordsworth, quoted above, the great critic,
Matthew Arnold, answers our question thus :

Long ago, in speaking of Homer, I said that the noble and pro
found application of ideas to life is the most essential part of poetic
greatness. I said that a great poet receives his distinctive character of
superiority from his application, under the conditions immutably fixed
by the laws of poetic beauty and poetic truth, from his application, I
say, to his subject, whatever it may be, of the ideas

'On man, on nature and on human life,'

which he has acquired for himself ... It is important, therefore, to
hold fast to this: that poetry is at bottom a criticism of life; that the
greatness of a poet lies in his powerful and beautiful application of
ideas to life — to the question: How to live.

This sounds very solemn indeed. It may seem to us that
Arnold expects all literature to be profoundly serious. Per
haps we have not quite understood his phrase, "how to live,"
and the word " moral" as we have seen it used by other
critics. If we study carefully such expressions as they are
used in literary criticism, we shall find that the writers be
lieve that the best literature touches or relates to some phase
of life. Now, there are many phases of life, and each has, or
may have, its literature. There is the serious phase, and its
literature sets forth the profounder emotions. A poem in
this class is Wordsworth's Tintern Abbey, which expresses
a feeling for nature both deep and exalted. Gray's Elegy,
Milton's Paradise Lost, Shakespeare's Lear, Bryant's Forest
Hymn all express the profounder emotions or depict the
tragic side of life.

There is, however, another side of life. We need to be
inspired to cheerfulness and gaiety as well as to serious
thought. Recreation is as necessary as effort. It is right,
then, that there should be a cheerful and gay type of

84 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

literature, for this corresponds to a phase of life. Poems like
Burns's Tarn O'Shanter or Holmes's One Hoss Shay, plays
like Shakespeare's Twelfth Night or Sheridan's Rivals, which
move us to laughter, are as legitimately literature as any
that set us to thinking profoundly or move us to tears.

If life is the subject of literature, it naturally follows that the
reader must have had a certain experience of life before he can
truly appreciate literature. Certain books are less suitable for the
young than for the more mature because they discuss questions
which do not ordinarily enter into the experience of the young. If
a young person finds that he does not care for a literary classic,
he should not blame himself and depreciate his own powers, but
rather wait until he has grown to it. A little time and a broader
experience of the world will often teach the beauty and value of
what has, a short time before, seemed without significance. In order
to understand a certain piece of literature one need not have had
the exact experience of life described in that piece; but he must
have had such experience and gained such insight as will enable
him to comprehend imaginatively the phase of life set forth. On
the other hand, older persons may grow out of sympathy with
phases of life described in books written for younger persons, and
therefore cease to care for books that still interest the young. Even
the race outgrows certain experiences, and with them the literary
forms and subjects they have inspired; as the Renaissance dis
carded Mediae valism.

Some of our best writers exalt us emotionally by awakening
in us a new and fuller sense of the beauty of the world about
us. The greatest of these love Nature not merely for her
beauty, but because she gives them peace and strength. To
them "she speaks a various language," as clearly as a human
friend might speak in words, and her message to them they
translate to us. These are poets gifted with the "interpre-

THOUGHT AND STYLE 85

tative imagination." All poets who write of nature have
more or less of this gift. Bryant is the greatest of the Amer
ican poets in this respect. Wordsworth, the foremost of all
the poets of the world in his sympathy with Nature, says
that communion with her awakens in him

that blessed mood

In which the burden of the mystery,
In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world,
Is lightened : — that serene and blessed mood,
In which the affections gently lead us on, —
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame,
And e'en the motions of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body and become a living soul:
While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.
— Lines Composed a Few Miles above Tintern Abbey.

Literature re-creates life — every aspect of life. The
nobler literature represents the more exalted aspects of life
and of nature. But all is worthy that leaves the reader
better, stronger, happier. As regards style, a man of literary
genius has unusual taste and power. As regards thought,
he has remarkable insight into the principles of life and
nature. His insight is sometimes very deep, though his
range is not very broad (e. g.} Wordsworth). English liter
ature boasts one writer whose insight was penetrating and
profound, and whose range was as broad as life — the
"myriad-minded" Shakespeare.

We often use the word moral in a more restricted sense
than that just explained. We say that a poem or a story has
a moral when it expresses or implies an exhortation to some

86 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

definite improvement in the character or manners of the
reader. Some of the noblest pieces of literature have no
such definite lesson expressed or implied. They aim to lift
us by putting us into a high and noble frame of mind, or
by rousing in us exalted emotions; to refine us through our
sympathy with the beautiful. These pieces of literature
have nothing that, in the restricted sense of the word can
be called a moral, though their thought is in the realm of the
truly moral, because it touches the great question "how to
live" and feel and think.

Some pieces of literature that teach a definite lesson, a
moral in the restricted sense of the word, hold it "in solution,"
to borrow a term from the language of science. Hawthorne
gives no definite statement of the moral in The Great Stone
Face; but we cannot help knowing that he meant to have us
understand that Ernest became good and noble by med
itating on something good and noble, and we feel that the
author is covertly advising us to follow the example of
Ernest. Other pieces of literature "precipitate," or "crys-
talize" the moral thought in definite words. The last
stanza of Holmes's Chambered Nautilus and the third para
graph from the last of Hawthorne's Snow-Image state the
exhortation and the moral thought directly and distinctly
in so many words. The majority of readers prefer, perhaps,
the moral "in solution" to the " crystalized " moral; for
they enjoy the discovery of the meaning for themselves.
But we can hardly say that one method is better under all
circumstances than the other. The taste and judgment of
great writers lead them to use sometimes one method,
sometimes the other.

One way of teaching a moral, lesson is through Allegory.
The allegory describes one thing in terms belonging literally

THOUGHT AND STYLE 87

to another, and is sometimes called "a continued metaphor."
A great allegory in English is Bunyan's Pilgrim Progress,
which describes life in terms of a traveller's journey from one
city to another. Here the application of the moral thought
to life is made clear by the names: Slough of Despond,
Doubting Castle, Giant Despair, etc. Some of Hawthorne's
stories are allegorical, as The Birthmark and The Minister's
Black Veil

Parables and Fables also teach definite moral lessons.
Read some of the parables of the New Testament and some
of the fables of ^Esop, and state clearly the lesson taught by
them.

We may consider briefly one other subject connected
with the thought element of literature — the relative value
of fact and truth.

A book is true to fact when it is an exact description of
something as it exists, or an accurate narration of events as
they occurred, or a precise explanation of causes, effects,
relations, etc. In the domain of science, fact is of the greatest
interest and importance.

In the domain of literature fact becomes less important
and truth is the main consideration. We say that a piece of
literature has truth when it is entirely consistent in itself and
to the laws of the realm in which its class places it. If it
is in the realm of human life, it must be true to the laws —
physical, mental, moral — that govern man. It must show
the working out of the laws of nature and the great moral
laws of the universe — the effect of man's acts on his char
acter and on events, and the effect of his environment on
him. If the subject is in fairy-land, it must be consistent
with the conventions and traditions of fairy-land. Alice in
Wonderland is a marvelous tale; but it does not pretend to

88 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

be a narration of actual experience, and anything is possible
in a dream. There may never have been four girls in a
family exactly like Miss Alcott's Little Women, who did
precisely the things they are said to have done; but Meg, Jo,
Beth, and Amy have conceivable and consistent characters
and personalities, and there is nothing in the book incon
sistent with the life it pretends to depict. Therefore Little
Women is, from a literary point of view, "convincing" and
true.

True books of fiction are often great teachers. The authors
have unusual insight into human life and motives, and con
struct their plots to bring out clearly some phase of life.
Even when they base their plots or characters in part on
fact, they select and re-combine, omitting the accidental
and unrelated, throwing emphasis on the essential, so that
they clear away the impediments and the multiplicity of
detail that obstruct our weaker view in actual life, and show
us a related series of events leading to some important
effect — the climax of the story. In them, " Experience is
converted into thought, as a mulberry leaf is converted into
satin." (Emerson, The American Scholar.)

The world of the imagination is not the world of abstraction and
nonentity, as some conceive, but a world formed out of chaos by a
sense of the beauty that is in man and the earth on which he dwells.
Is is the realm of Might-be, our haven of refuge from the short-comings
and disillusions of life. It is, to quote Spenser, who knew it well, —

' The world's sweet inn from care and wearisome turmoil.'

Do we believe, then, that God gave us in mockery that splendid faculty
of sympathy with things that are 'a joy forever'? For my part, I be
lieve that the love and study of works of imagination is of practical
utility in a country so profoundly material (or, as we like to call it,
practical) in its leading tendencies as ours. The hunger after purely

THOUGHT AND STYLE 89

intellectual delights, the content with ideal possessions, cannot but be
good for us in maintaining a wholesome balance of the character and
faculties. I for one shall never be persuaded that Shakespeare left a
less useful legacy to his countrymen than Watt. We hold all the deep
est, all the highest satisfactions of life as tenants of the imagination.

— LOWELL: Books and Libraries.

Turn back, now, to the remarks on literature that con
stitute Chapter I of Part I of this book, and read again
DeQuincey's words on the two kinds of literature. We may
use here the terms he has given us : fact is the material of the
literature of knowledge; truth is the material of the literature
of power.

CHAPTER X
HOW TO STUDY A PIECE OF LITERATURE

The style of a piece of literature is sometimes called, in
metaphor, the dress of the thought. We all know that
different dress is suitable for different occasions. For simple,
every-day life, simple dress is most appropriate; for more
formal occasions, we don more elaborate attire. In like
manner, what is proper and in good taste in literary expres
sion depends entirely on the character of the thought to be
expressed.

The general principle regarding the adaptation of style to
thought is strongly put by Herbert Spencer in his Philosophy
of Style. The chief consideration in expression is economy
of the reader's attention; i. e.} that style is best which dis
tracts the attention of the reader least to itself and con
centrates it most on the thought. All the graces of adorn
ment, all the devices of expression used, should emphasize
not themselves but the thought they express, the effect they
are intended to produce.

If then, the thought and the effect are the main consider
ations, we have first, in studying a piece of literature, to
determine what is the thought and what is the effect desired;
i. e.} what is the "informing spirit" of this work of art.
The study of the writer's style is a study of the means by
which he forcibly and elegantly expresses his thought or
produces his effect.

HOW TO STUDY A PIECE OF LITERATURE 91

To ascertain the thought we must first give the poem (or
story, or essay) a careful, though not detailed, reading.
After this preliminary reading we should be able to state
concisely what thought the author wishes to convey, or
what effect he wishes to produce. We should know whether
the spirit of the work is pathetic, humorous, animated,
vigorous, dignified or sublime; and we should have noticed
whether the style is touching, lively, energetic, brilliant,
stately, lofty, or splendid. We should see the general plan,
also, of the work.

We should next consult biographies, histories of literature,
and critical works to learn whether the circumstances of
composition throw any light on the author's purpose or
method. Sometimes they do not; often they do. One of
Longfellow's poems grew out of the circumstances of his
visit to the United States Arsenal at Springfield, Massachu
setts, and it is impossible to appreciate the poem, or even
to study it intelligently, without first knowing what was
said on that occasion.

We are now ready to examine our classic in detail. Since
every piece of writing worth careful study shows perfect
adaptation of style to thought, we shall understand and feel
the thought better for the attention we give the style. We
shall gain by saying definitely what we find in the diction,
the sentence-structure, the figures, the allusions, the meter,
the melody, the harmony of the classic that impresses on us
more deeply the effect the writer wishes to produce. Our
study of rhetorical devices should not be a mere listing of
epithets, figures, etc.; it should be a clear explanation of the
manner in which the writer, by his form of expression, makes
his meaning more effective. This is the only sort of rhetorical
study sufficiently vital to be worth our time and effort; and

92 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

this is worth our time because it gives us an intelligent
appreciation of the author's thought and art.

Many students wish to content themselves with the first
preliminary reading of a classic, and do not wish to go on
with a study of details. Bacon was right when he said,
"Some books are to be tasted, others to be swallowed."
It is a good thing to be able to read books of no great im
portance "in part" and not "curiously." But Bacon was
equally right when he added, "and some few to be chewed
and digested." We make a great mistake if we fail to read
those that come under this last class "wholly, and with
diligence and attention." Without careful study of the
details of style, we miss the fine points in the development
of the thought, and we miss also much of the force lent by
the suitable expression. In a general reading we may, in
minor details, even misinterpret our author. He has em
ployed no word without a definite purpose, and it is our duty
to give him a fair hearing.

Ruskin, in Sesame amd Lilies, has spoken strongly of the
necessity for careful study of literature. The following
passages are particularly note-worthy.

— At least be sure that you go to the author to get his meaning,
not to find yours. Judge it afterward, if you think yourself qualified
to do so; but ascertain it first. —

And therefore, first of all, I tell you, earnestly and authoritatively
(I know I am right in this), you must get into the habit of looking in
tensely at words, and assuring yourself of their meaning, syllable by
syllable — nay, letter by letter. —

Then, after explaining carefully a passage from Milton's
Lycidas, he continues:

We have got something out of the lines, I think, and much more yefc
is to be found in them; but we have done enough by way of example of

HOW TO STUDY A PIECE OF LITERATURE 93

the kind of word-by-word examination of your author which is rightly
called 'reading;' watching every accent and expression, and putting
ourselves always in the author's place, annihilating our own personality,
and seeking to enter into his, so as to be able assuredly to say, 'Thus
Milton thought/ not 'Thus I thought, in mis-reading Milton.'

The understanding is not the only one of our faculties that
needs to be thoroughly alive in our study of literature. The
activity of the imagination is exceedingly important. We
do not fully comprehend unless we realize so vividly the
thought of the author that we actually, for the time, believe
that we see the sights, hear the sounds, smell the odors, taste
the food, feel the sensations, experience the emotions, and
live the life described. The purpose of the author is to make
the reader "live sympathetically through the experience he
is interpreting." We must give ourselves, for the time,
wholly into the author's power, to be guided and controlled,
intellectually and emotionally, by him. We may judge
afterward, if we will, but we must first know.

It is more difficult to realize clearly a general or abstract
statement than a specific or concrete one. It is, therefore,
often desirable that the reader illustrate an abstract state
ment for himself, if the writer does not do it for him. He
will thus make the statement clearer, and at tfre same time
enlist in its interpretation his imaginative powers. An
example of such illustration is to be found in this volume
in the study of Emerson's Heroism, where an abstract moral
question is converted into a concrete one by reference to a
story involving it. (See page 285 and Appendix II.]

It is easier to state the principles discussed above than it
is to give rules for their application. For the precise method
of studying any work of literature depends on the construc
tion of that particular work, and directions general enough

94 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

to apply universally may be of little assistance in any in
dividual case. The studies in this volume are intended to
illustrate the application of these principles under a variety
of circumstances. A few concise directions at this point
may, however, be helpful.

First, recognize clearly the intellectual basis of the work.
In A Forest Hymn Bryant declares that the forest is a proper
place to worship God. In Westminster Abbey Irving attempts
to transmit to us the sense of melancholy that filled him
when he visited the Abbey. In The Fall of the House of Usher
Poe wishes to create in his readers a sensation of horror.
In Compensation Emerson expounds the doctrine that every
advantage in life has a counterbalancing disadvantage, and
vice versa.

After the clear recognition of the thought, try to discover
the author's method of working out his purpose concretely
and artistically, of inspiring the imagination, of pleasing
the fancy, of quickening the mental powers of his readers.
The beauty of Bryant's poem is in its noble descriptions of
the forest, from a worshipper's point of view. The charm
of Irving's sketch is in the sympathy with which he points
out evidences of the decay of earthly glory and power. Poe
horrifies us with a tale in which he unites in vivid narrative
two startling motifs. Emerson interests us by means of
exposition, elucidation, and illustration.

Then study the form of expression; i. e., the style. Point
out the elements that give lightness, humor, beauty, vivacity,
vigor, force, dignity, or whatever the quality may be, to
the work. Show how the expression is so thoroughly in
harmony with the thought, the tone, the artistic method
that the whole creates a unified work of art — a piece of
literature.

HOW TO STUDY A PIECE OF LITERATURE 95

A final reading of our classic should be a complete and
accurate vocal interpretation of it. We have come to under
stand it thoroughly in the second, or detailed, reading, and
now with complete sympathy we express the author's work
for him — sense and sound. No worthy vocal expression can
come except through entire comprehension of and sympathy
with the author; and this final vocal interpretation, as a
summary and culmination of the study of a classic, should
never be omitted.

THE STUDY OF LITERATURE

The following quotations tell us what some scholars and
men of genius have thought of literature and the study of
literature.

The study of literature is the study of life and feeling as it is reflected
in the best prose and poetry.

— HART: Rhetoric.

Criticism may be broadly and provisionally defined as the intelligent
appreciation of any work of art, and by consequence the just estimate of
its value and rank.*

— WINCHESTER: Some Principles of Literary Criticism.

[Criticism is] a disinterested endeavor to learn and propagate the best
that is known and thought in the world.

— M. ARNOLD: The Function of Criticism.

The poet is, then, gifted in two ways: he discerns the essential mean
ings of things, and he has the technical ability to make others see with
his eyes and feel with his feelings.t

— SHERMAN: Analytics.

Poetry is the suggestion by the imagination of noble grounds for
noble emotions.

— LUSKIN: Modern Painters, III.

Poetry is the perpetual endeavor to express the spirit of things.

— EMERSON.

Truth is the aim of literature. Sincerity is moral truth. Beauty
is aesthetic truth.

— LEWES : Principles of Success in Literature, I.

* Used by permission of The Macmillan Company,
t Used by permission of Messrs. Ginn & Company.

HOW TO STUDY A PIECE OF LITERATURE 97

Poetry is the breath and finer spirit of all knowledge; it is the im
passioned expression which is in the countenance of all science.

— WORDSWORTH: Prefaces.

Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings, taking
its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility.

— WORDSWORTH: Prefaces.
Poetry is the utterance of a passion for truth, beauty, and power,

embodying and illustrating its conceptions by imagination and fancy,
and modulating its language on the principle of variety and uniformity.

— LEIGH HUNT: What is Poetry?

[Poetry is] the presentment of the correspondence of the Universe to
the Deity, of the natural to the spiritual, and of the actual to the ideal.

— BROWNING: Essay on Shelley.

98 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

BIBLIOGRAPHY TO THE RHETORICAL INTRODUCTION

WINCHESTER, C. T.: Some Principles of Literary Criticism. New
York, 1900.

GENUNG, J. F. : The Working Principles of Rhetoric. Boston, 1900.

JOHNSON, C. F. : Forms of English Poetry, New York, 1904.

GUMMERE, F. B.: A Handbook of Poetics. Boston, 1885.

CORSON, HIRAM: A Primer of English Verse. Boston, 1892.

SHERMAN, L. A. : Analytics of Literature. Boston, 1893.

HILL, A. S. : The Principles of Rhetoric. New York, 1895.

WENDELL, BARRETT: English Composition. New York, 1896.

HART, J. S. : Composition and Rhetoric. Philadelphia, 1882.

HAMILTON, CLAYTON: Materials and Methods of Fiction. New York,
1908.

MINTO, WILLIAM: A Manual of English Prose Literature. Boston,
1893.

BRIGHT, J. W., and MILLER, R. D.: The Elements of English Versi
fication. Boston, 1910.

BATES, ARLO: Talks on the Study of Literature. Boston, 1897.

ALDEN, R. C. : An Introduction to Poetry. New York, 1909.

LEWIS, C. M. :The Principles of English Verse. New York, 1907.

NEILSON, W. A. : Essentials of Poetry. Boston, 1912.

GAYLEY, C. M. and SCOTT, F. N.: An Introduction to the Methods
and Materials of Literary Criticism, Vol. I. Boston, 1899.

PAUL, H. G. : Teaching Lyric Poetry; The English Journal, October
and November, 1912.

CANBY, H. S. : The Short Story in English. New York, 1909.

MATTHEWS, BRANDER: The Short Story. New York, 1907.

CANBY, H. S. : A Study of the Short Story. New York, 1913.

GUMMERE, F. B. : The Beginnings of Poetry. New York, 1901.

SUPPLEMENTARY CRITICAL READINGS

RUSKIN, JOHN: "Of the Pathetic Fallacy;" in Modern Painters,
Part IV, Chapter XII.

HOW TO STUDY A PIECE OF LITERATURE 99

PATER, WALTER: "An Essay on Style;" in Appreciations.

ARNOLD, MATTHEW: "The Study of Poetry;'7 in Essays in Criti
cism, Second Series.

ARNOLD, MATTHEW: "The Function of Criticism at the Present
Time;" in Essays in Criticism, First Series.

LESSING, G. E.iLaocoon; translated into English by Ellen Frothing-
ham.

STEDMAN, E. C.: The Nature of Poetry.

SHAIRP, J. C.: Aspects of Poetry.

SHAIRP, J. C. : Studies in Poetry and Philosophy.

WORDSWORTH, WILLIAM: Prefaces.

COLERIDGE, S. T. : Bibliographia Literaria.

PART II
INTENSIVE STUDIES

CHAPTER XI
WASHINGTON IRVING

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life, by David J. Hill; New York, 1879.

Life, by Charles Dudley Warner; Boston, 1881.

Life and Letters, 3 Vol., by Pierre L. Irving; New York, 1869.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

The Sketch Book, Bracebridge Hall, Wolf erf s Roost, Tales of a Traveller;
and see Appendix I, titles 9 to 24 inclusive.

STRATFORD-ON-AVON

I. Read the Sketch, following the map, and consulting the
pictures. Is Irving's purpose to narrate or to describe?
Does he describe chiefly to tell the appearance of persons
and places, or to reproduce in the reader the effect the visit
had on himself, and the thoughts inspired in him by it?

II. Study the Sketch carefully under the following heads;
and this time study also the notes in your text : —

1. Introduction (paragraphs 1-3). Where did Irving

stop when he visited Stratford? Explain the first

words of paragraph 2. What figure used in paragraph

1 is continued in paragraph 2? Explain the allusion

101

102 : STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

at the end of 2. What does " quickening " mean
(paragraph 3)?

2. Method of description : The author tells us what he saw

in a day's walk.
The point on which
the Sketch turns
and on which it is
based is mentioned
in paragraph 16. Is
the unity good?

3. Descriptive passages:

observe the sugges-
tiveness and single
impression of each;
the use of detail in
sight and sound;
the choice of
words — significant
adjectives and
verbs; figures and
comparisons; allu
sions.
The birthplace:

paragraph 4.

b. The churchyard:

paragraph 8.

c. The sexton's house :

paragraph 9.

d. The church: para

graph 13 ; in
terior: paragraphs 13-16.

e. Spring in England: paragraphs 3, 22, 23.

A. Red Horse Inn

B. Shakespeare House

C. New Place

D. Grammar School

E. Church and

Churchyard

Chart of Stratford-on-Avon

WASHINGTON IRVING 103

f. The road to Charlecote, and the Park: paragraphs

24, 26-30. Here the point of view progesses.

g. Charlecote Hall: paragraphs 29, 31; interior: para

graphs 32-35.

h. The old lady: paragraph 5.
i. The portraits: paragraph 34.

4. The humor of the Sketch: pretense to believe or to take

seriously what is absurd; contradiction between the
real meaning of words and the author's meaning —
use of long and important words for trifling things;
humor in figures and in allusions; character of the
humor (kindly or bitter); etc.

a. The relics: paragraphs 5, 6, 7, 11, 12.

b. The Lucys: paragraphs 31, 33.

c. Explain Shakespeare's humor in the quotation from
Merry Wives (paragraph 32) .

5. Power of Irving's imagination to respond to suggestion :

paragraphs 6, 23, 28, 35, 37, 38.

6. Moralizing; i. e. application to life in general of ideas

suggested by circumstances: paragraphs 1, 25, 39.

7. Irving's sympathy with the youthful exploits of Shake

speare: paragraphs 17, 18, 19, 20, 40.

8. Make a list of the plays of Shakespeare mentioned and

quoted in the Sketch; the notes will help you to the
names of the plays. Explain why each of the allusions
is appropriate here.
III. Read the Sketch again, this time aloud. Note the

passages that seem to you especially good in sound, and

explain the reason for your choice.

104

STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

WESTMINSTER ABBEY

I. Read the Sketch carefully, consulting plan, pictures, and"

the following outline:

Paragraph 1 : Introduc
tion : atmosphere given to
Sketch.

Paragraph 2: The ap
proach to Abbey through
the dark passage and the
cloister.

Paragraph 3 : The clois
ter-square.

Paragraph 4: The clois
ter-walk.

Paragraphs 5, 6: First
impressions of the
Church.

Paragraph 7: The
Poets' Corner.

Paragraph 8: The
Chapels — tombs of
kings and nobles.

Paragraph 9: The
Crusader's Tomb.

Paragraph 10: The
Nightingale Tomb.

Paragraph 11: Sounds
of life without.

Paragraphs 12-18: The

A. The Altar and the Chancel.

C. Chapels Containing Tombs.

D. The Dark Cloister.

E. The Tomb of Elizabeth.

Ed. The Chapel of Edward the Confessor.
H.VII. The Chapel of Henry VII.

pe
M. The Tomb of Mary.

ing
P. The Poets' Corner.

ary

N. The Nightingale Tomb.
P. The Poets' Corne

Plan of Westminster and Cloister

Chapel of Henry VII.

Paragraphs 19, 20: Sounds of the evening service.

WASHINGTON IRVING 105

Paragraph 21: Meditation during vespers.

Paragraph 22: The Chapel of Edward the Confessor.

Paragraph 23 : The departure.

Paragraphs 24, 25 : The lesson.

We have spent the afternoon in walking with Irving among
the monuments. The passage of time is indicated in para
graphs 3, 12, 19, 20, 21, 23.

II. Even at the first reading of this Sketch, one is struck
by the absence of detail in description. The reason for this
lack of detail is stated in paragraph 24. The few details
given are mentioned not so much for their physical appear
ance as for the effect they produce on the beholder. In a
number of cases the author is led from the object described
to moralize on human life (paragraphs 7, 15, 22, 24). The
finest aspect of the Sketch is found in its tone. The author
strikes the key-note in the very first sentence. The season
of the dying year harmonizes with the sentiment of pleasant
meditative melancholy, growing out of the consciousness of
the transitoriness of all things earthly. "Sic transit gloria
mundi." The human heart longs for an immortal memorial,
but even these monuments of stone decay and pass away.
Read the Sketch through again aloud, noting the diction, the
sentence-structure, the figures, and the sound effects that
bring out the tone. Note, too, how the writer's imagination
responds constantly to the influence of the Abbey.

III. Study in detail:—

1. Contrast to the main tone in paragraphs 3 and 11.

2. Contrast of the bright and the gloomy in paragraphs

14, 15.

3. Harmony of sound and thought in paragraph 20.

4. Consult the notes in your text for explanation of allu

sions and other difficult points.

106 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

IV. The Sketch Book was published in 1819. With the
concluding paragraph of Westminster Abbey compare these
lines from Scott's Lay of the Last Minstrel, published in
1805.

If thou would'st view fair Melrose aright,

Go visit it by the pale moonlight,

For the gay beams of lightsome day

Gild but to flout the ruins gray.

When the broken arches are black in night,

And each shafted oriel glimmers white;

When the cold light's uncertain shower

Streams on the ruined central tower;

When buttress and buttress alternately

Seem framed of ebon and ivory;

When silver edges the imagery,

And the scrolls that teach thee to live and die;

When distant Tweed is heard to rave,

And the owlet to hoot o'er the dead man's grave,

Then go — but go alone the while —

Then view St. David's ruined pile;

And, home returning, soothly swear

Was never scene so sad and fair.

Irving, by echoing the diction of the well-known poem,
prophesies a future for Westminster like the fate of Mel-
rose — utter ruin. Is this in harmony with the moral thought
and the tone of the Sketch*! (See II above.)

V. Irving's work is sometimes compared to that of the
English essayist, Addison, who lived about a century earlier
than Irving. Addison has an essay called Thoughts in West
minster Abbey. Read it carefully (Appendix III). Has it
the same tone as Irving's SketM Is Addison 's unity of
tone as good as Irving's? Wliich of his paragraphs are best?
Which essay is the finer production of the imagination?
Which writer was more under the spell of the great Abbey?

WASHINGTON IRVING 107

The study of Irving here suggested is of a purely literary charac
ter. The Sketches furnish excellent material for the composition
class also, as models for the study of paragraph structure, of sen
tence form, of coherence, and of outlining, or the logical develop
ment of the whole composition.

CHAPTER XII
WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life, 2 Vol., by Parke Godwin; New York, 1883.
Life, by David J. Hill; New York, 1879.
Life, by John Bigelow; Boston, 1890.
Life, by Wm. A. Bradley; New York, 1905.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

The Yellow Violet, To the Fringed Gentian, Green River, June, Au
tumn Woods, The Death of the Flowers, The Gladness of Nature, The
Evening Wind, The Snow-shower, Robert of Lincoln, The Planting of
the Apple-tree, The Prairies, a Lifetime.

The Past, The Poet, O Fairest of the Rural Maids (written to the
lady who became his wife; compare with Wordsworth's Three years
she grew, as expressing the educating power of Nature), The May Sun
Sheds an Amber Light (Godwin II, 31).

The Green Mountain Boys, Song of Marion's Men, Oh! Mother of a
Mighty Race, The Death of Lincoln.

See also Appendix I, titles 25 to 27 inclusive.

To A WATERFOWL

I. This poem is an apostrophe to a flying bird, and an
expression of the moral thought it brings the poet. Seeing
the dark figure outlined against the glowing evening sky, he
reflects that the Power which guides the bird safely through
its journey will lead him also safely through life.

The circumstances under which the poem was composed
give it special significance. Bryant was about to begin his

108

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 109

career as a young lawyer. He felt, as every young man must
feel when he takes his first independent step in life, an
intense loneliness and a great anxiety for the future. The
following paragraph is quoted from Godwin I, 143, 144.*

How was he to live until success should come? There was, in fact,
no alternative for him but to begin in some small country village, where,
if the prospects of practice were not very alluring, the cost of subsistence
at least might be managed. On the opposite hillside from Cummington,
about seven miles distant, and to be seen from his father's residence,
was a hamlet called Plainfield, whither he resolved to go to try his
fortune. — On the 15th of December [1815] he went over to the place
to make the necessary inquiries. He says in a letter that he felt, as he
walked up the hills, very forlorn and desolate indeed, not knowing what
was to become of him in the big world, which grew bigger as he ascended,
and yet darker with the coming on of night. The sun had already set,
leaving behind it one of those brilliant seas of chrysolite and opal which
often flood the New England skies; and, while he was looking upon the
rosy splendor with rapt admiration, a solitary bird made wing along
the illuminated horizon. He watched the lone wanderer until it was
lost in the distance, asking himself whither it had come and to what far
home it was flying. When he went to the house where he was to stop
for the night, his mind was still full of what he had seen and felt, and
he wrote those lines as imperishable as our language, 'The Waterfowl.'
The solemn tone in which they conclude, and which by some critics has
been thought too moralizing, — was as much a part of the scene as the
flight of the bird itself, which spoke not alone to his eye, but to his soul.
To have omitted that grand expression of faith and hope in a divine
guidance would have been to violate the entire truth of the vision.

II. The picture is described in the first two stanzas.
Study it word by word, bringing together the color words
that describe the splendor of the sky, and the words that
speak of the one dark spot against it. Is the bird flying

* Quotations from Parke Godwin's Life are made by permission of
Messrs. D. Appleton and Company.

110 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

high or low? If you were an illustrator exactly what picture
would you make for this poem?

In connection with the seventh line, read the following
extract from a letter from Bryant to his publisher, who has
objected to a change in wording. See Godwin II, 288, 289.

In regard to the change made in the Waterfowl in which the line
now stands

As darkly seen against the crimson sky,
instead of

As darkly painted on the crimson sky,

please read what I have to say in excuse. I was never satisfied with
the word painted because the next line is

Thy figure floats along.

Now, from a very early period — I am not sure that it was not from
the very time that I wrote the poem — there seemed to me an incon
gruity between the idea of a figure painted on the sky, and a figure
moving, 'floating/ across its surface. If the figure were painted, then
it would be fixed. The incongruity distressed me, and I could not be
easy till I had made the change. I preferred a plain, prosaic expression
to a picturesque one that seemed to me false. Painted expresses well
the depth and strength of color which fixed my attention when I saw
the bird — but it contradicts the motion of the winds and the progress
of the bird through the air.

Do you agree with the poet or with the publisher?
III. Study the style of the poem with respect to the follow
ing points: —

1. Diction: poetic words, epithets, suggestiveness and

connotation of the words chosen.

2. Sentence-structure: inversion, periodic form.

3. Figures: apostrophe, personification, metaphor.

Do not make lists merely, but try to show how the poet's

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 111

expression is related to his thought, and how he rouses the
imagination of the reader. Was he always as conscientious
in his art as he was when he substituted seen for painted?

IV. Has Bryant chosen meter and stanza-structure suit
able to his thought? What effect have the run-on lines?
Are the pauses arranged well? Study the poem for its
melody and harmony. Bigelow (p. 43) tells us that Hartley
Coleridge, son of the great English poet, declared to his
college friend, Matthew Arnold, that this was the finest
poem in the English language, and that he quoted with
special pleasure the fifteenth and sixteenth lines. Why
should he have remembered and cited these lines partic
ularly?

V. Read the poem aloud. Do not neglect the beauty of
sound, which will make more effective the expression of
the thought.

INSCRIPTION FOR THE ENTRANCE TO A WOOD

I. In this poem the forest is regarded as the abode of peace
and gladness, to which man may retire for comfort and
strength when he is weary of the sins and cares of the world.
Nature — innocent and therefore happy — is contrasted
with humanity — sinful and therefore miserable. Make a list
of the words of content and gladness applied to Nature and
the things of Nature; make another list of words relating to
sin and sorrow applied to human life.

II. The thought is serious; the style should, therefore, be
dignified. Prepare to say how the style enforces the effect of
the thought in the following particulars : —

1. in the choice of adjectives and epithets; in the use of

specific words;

2. in the use of figures of speech;

112 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

3. in the use of archaic and poetic words;

4. in the sentence length and structure;

5. in the allusions;

6. in the use of blank verse;

7. in the passages in which sound harmonizes with sense.

Under 2 speak particularly of apostrophe, personifica
tion, and metaphors. Under 4 observe the approach to
periodic structure in lines 1-6, and the suspense in lines
28-32, 34-36. Under 5 the only possible difficulty is in lines
11-15. The " primal curse/' when Adam and Eve were
driven out of Paradise, declared that the earth should bring
forth thorns and thistles. (See Genesis 3: 18.) But this was
not to punish the sinless earth; misery comes only to guilty
man. Under 6 speak of the long phrasing produced by
run-on lines and medial pauses. Under 7 note especially
lines 34 and 35.

In discussing all these points, avoid mere enumeration.
Your work is to show how these rhetorical features, by pro
ducing a certain style, make more effective the thought the
poet desires to express.

Does Bryant in his description of the wood depend more
on figures or on specific words and epithets?

III. From the biographies of Bryant find out when and
under what circumstances this early poem was written and
published, and what name was first given to it. Read all the
criticism and comment you can find on it. A good comment
is to be found in Godwin's Bryant, I, 142: " Composed in a
noble old forest that fronted his father's dwelling-house, it is
an exquisite picture of the calm contentment he found in the
woods. Every object ... is painted with the minutest
fidelity, and yet with an almost impassioned sympathy."

IV. Read the poem aloud. Try to express with your

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 113

voice everything Bryant intended his readers to think and
feel.

A FOREST HYMN

I. This poem was Bryant's farewell to his country life,
just before his departure to New York in 1825. See Godwin
I, 214. Here he regards the forest as a place for the worship of
its Creator. Read the poem carefully with the following
outline : —

1. Introduction: The forest worship of primitive man

might well be practiced sometimes by civilized man.

2. The Creator is still in the forest he has made.

3. The forest is an expression of life triumphant — of the

creative power of God still active.

4. The poet finds it profitable there to meditate on the

judgments and mercies of God.

II. The poem is serious, meditative, and dignified in
thought, and the rhetorical devices should be such as will
help to produce the effect of majesty and sublimity. Discuss
the style under the following topics: —

1. Diction: long words; archaic and poetic words; specific

words; epithets; poetic compounds.

2. Sentences: length and form. Notice the effect produced

by the periodic sentences. Contrast the difference in
thought and effect shown by the loose sentence (lines
90-99) and the periodic (lines 101-111.) Suspended
structure produces an effect similar to that of the
periodic. What is the effect of the broken sentence
in line 55?

3. Figures: apostrophe, personification, metaphor, sim

ile — lists of each. Notice the continued metaphor in

114 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

lines 1, 18, 24, 25, 33-35. Which of the personifications
concern nature? Which concern abstract notions?

4. Meter and sound: effect of blank verse; use of para
graphs instead of stanzas; foot; length of line; run-on
lines; retards and pauses (including spondaic feet);
alliteration; harmony of sound and thought.

III. Read the poem aloud. Try to express with your voice
all its meaning, beauty, and majesty.

Line 36 alludes to the " fantastic carvings" found in and on the
mediaeval cathedrals. "The Imp of Lincoln" and "the Devil of
Notre Dame" are well-known examples.

MONUMENT MOUNTAIN

I. Near Great Barrington, Massachusetts, rises a great
precipice that overlooks the lovely valley of the Housatonic
and the Berkshire Hills. At its southern extremity there was
once a pile of stones, gathered, tradition says, in honor of an
Indian woman who had thrown herself from the precipice.
The legend is given in lines 49ff. of the poem. Is the story
a painful one?

Relate the legend as you learn it from the poem. It is a
simple tale — your language should be as pure and simple as
that of Bryant. Let your me~thod of telling the story show
your appreciation of Bryant's diction. If he has used any
epithets or other adjectives, or any figures that seem to you
particularly appropriate, you may use the same. Try to
give to your legend the same note of patient, restrained
pathos Bryant has given to his.

II. Lines 1-48 are introductory, describing the precipice
and the view from its summit. Do you think the introduc
tion is too long? Why does Bryant make it so long? The

MONUMENT MOUNTAIN PRECIPICE

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 115

author apostrophizes the visitor who woujd see, from the
summit of the cliff, the "lovely" and the "wild." Go care
fully through this introduction, dividing into these two
classes the objects and scenes mentioned. Notice how your
attention is directed to the various objects and in various
directions by "here," " there," "to the north," "the western
side," "to the east." Show particularly how the pictures of
the lovely and the wild are made more vivid by the use of
epithets. How much does evidence of human life and activ
ity enter into Bryant's ideal of the "lovely"? Follow care
fully the continued metaphor in which the poet uses terms of
architecture for the cliffs and rocks (lines 21, 25, 27, 30, 31,
36, 48). Find examples of personification; what feeling
for nature does the use of this figure show?

III. The poem is written in blank verse. Discuss its meter,
the use of run-on lines, and the medial pauses. Do you find
any places where the sound is particularly well suited to
the thought?

IV. Read the introduction (lines 1^8) aloud. Try to
make your auditors imagine the scene Bryant has described.

THE ANTIQUITY OF FREEDOM

I. Read the poem carefully with the following outline: —

1. Introduction, lines 1-12: the forest is the scene of the

poet's meditation; its age and undisturbed growth
suggest the age and nature of liberty.

2. Freedom is conceived under the metaphor of a warrior,

assailed by his foe with force: lines 13-32.

3. Freedom is coeval with the human race: lines 33^7.

4. Though he will be ultimately victorious, Freedom

must watch long against the cunning of his foe:
lines 48-64.

116 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

5. Conclusion, lines 64-70: the forest is the resting-place
for Freedom in the intervals of his struggle, it being
the primal home and present abode of liberty.

II. Study the poem in detail.

Topics 1 and 5. The introduction and the conclusion may
be considered together rhetorically. The former, particularly,
describes the forest by means of specific nouns and epithets.
The age of the forest (line 10) explains the descriptive element
of the conclusion (lines 66-70).

Topic 3. Lines 33-47 may next be considered, as standing
nearer the title of the poem than the second and fourth para
graphs. Freedom should rule the human race by right of
birth — he is older than usurping Tyranny, his enemy. He
began with the beginning of the race, and has gone with
the race through its history. Lines 34-40 allude to the
pastoral period of our race's history. Pastoral peoples,
watching their flocks by night (for darkness brings the wild
beasts), have always been astronomers; and in poetry shep
herds are always represented as playing on the "reed."
(See the story of Pan, god of shepherds, and the nymph
Syrinx.) Also, pastoral peoples are obliged to fight the wild
beasts that would decimate their flocks. Lines 40-42 refer to
the early agricultural period of our race's history. Tyranny,
being younger, is, by the law of primogeniture, a usurper,
if he takes the place of the elder. Does he feel secure in his
wrongfully obtained position?

Topic 2. (Lines 13-32). The whole of the poem proper is
an apostrophe to Freedom. The French emblem of Freedom
is a young girl in a Roman cap. The poet rejects this
metaphor; he conceives Freedom as a warrior, fighting
(lines 17-22). Power (called "Tyranny" in line 42) has at
tacked Freedom. "Thunderbolts" and "lightnings" sug-

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 117

gest Zeus, who is regarded as a tyrant in the story of Prome
theus. Power makes Freedom prisoner, but Freedom escapes
and rallies the nations around his standard. The " swart ar
morers" are smiths (6foc&-smiths), whose work in early
times included the making of armor. Throughout this
paragraph Freedom is represented as struggling against the
force of the enemy in warfare and battle. He may be con
quered for a time, but his immortal strength finally puts the
enemy to flight.

Topic 4. (Lines 48-64). Here Freedom is represented as
fighting against the enemy's cunning — the weapon of the
weak and failing. Tyranny sets traps and ambushes, if
perchance he may take Freedom unawares. Lines 53-59
refer to pleasures and rewards tyrants, or would-be tyrants,
have sometimes prepared for their slaves. Roman history,
for example, tells how food was distributed to the populace,
and how they were entertained by spectacles when would-be
tyrants were trying to gain power over them. Can you give
from history any other illustration for these lines? Lines
59-64 warn Freedom to be prepared for these cunning
attacks of his enemy. " Tumult" and " fraud" in line 65 re
call the ideas of "force" (lines 21ff.) and "cunning" (lines
50ff.).

III. Discuss the sentence-structure in this poem. What
is the effect of inversion in lines 27-28, 34-35, 42-45, 45-
47?

IV. Discuss the meter, and the use of run-on lines and
pauses.

V. What devices do you find in the poem for securing
melody and harmony?

VI. Read the poem aloud. Try to bring out fully its
meaning, beauty, and strength.

118 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

THANATOPSIS

I. When Bryant was a young man of twenty-three, his
father found in his desk the verses which now appear as
Thanatopsis, lines 17-66. Mr. Bryant gave the lines to his
friend Mr. Phillips, then editor of The North American Re
view, and they were published in that magazine in September,
1817. They are supposed to have been written some five
or six years earlier. Lines 1-17 and 66-81 were added by
the poet in his volume of 1821. See Godwin I, 97-101,
148-155.

II. The title of the poem is from the Greek, and means
"a vision of death." One should read first the original lines
(17-66), which are the core of the present poem. The poet
conceives the earth as a splendid tomb for man, and the
beauties of nature as decorations of that tomb. He med
itates on the universality of death. This seems a strange
topic for the meditation of a young man of healthy mind;
but we know that " graveyard poems" occupied a prominent
and honored place in English literature of the late eighteenth
century. Gray's Elegy Written in a Country Churchyard is the
best known of these poems. Another, which seems particu
larly to have influenced Bryant, is Blair's Grave. See Godwin
I, 37, 97.

What is this world?

What but a spacious burial-field unwalled,
Strewed with death's spoils, the spoils of animals
Savage and tame, and full of dead men's bones.
The very turf on which we tread once lived,
And we that live must lend our carcasses
To cover our own offspring; in their turns
They, too, must cover theirs.

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 119

The thought of Blair, though infinitely less well expressed,
is plainly that of the young Bryant, who was doubtless
familiar with the then popular poem of the older man. Of
the lines added later, 1-17 are of the nature of an introduction,
66-72 are so closely related to the thought of the poem that
they became really a part of it, and 73-81 are appended to at
tach a moral thought to the poem. These lines can hardly
be called a conclusion, because they do not grow necessarily,
or even naturally, out of the thought of the poem proper.

III. Read now the entire poem as it stands at present,
consulting the following outline: —

1. Introduction: Nature comforts man when the thought

of death makes him gloomy, telling him that : —

2. it is true his body will return to earth;

3. yet he will thus become one of the company that in

cludes all the great, the beautiful, the good of the
past;

4. the beauties of Nature are decorations for the tomb of

man;

5. the dead are everywhere, and all who are to come will

ultimately join their number.

6. Moral thought: So live that you will not be afraid to die.
Consider the thought of the poem carefully. This is

sometimes called a "pagan poem." See Hill's Bryant, 214,
215; and Richardson's History of American Literature, II, 37.
Does Bryant say any more in this poem than a pagan phil
osopher could have said?

IV. The thought of the poem is serious and majestic.
The style should then be dignified and stately. Show how
the style becomes the thought in the following particu
lars : —

1. Diction: length of words; use of specific words; use of

120 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

words from the poetic vocabulary (archaic words,
epithets, poetic compounds); words not adjectives
used for descriptive power.

2. Sentences: length; inversion and suspension; use of

series; periodic structure.

3. Figures: apostrophe; personification; simile; metaphor.

4. Meter: blank verse; foot; length of line and placing

of pauses.

5. Melody and harmony: alliteration; assonance; dignity

of movement; sonorous quality of words used.

Even if you do not consider the subject a profitable one
for meditation, you cannot but be impressed with the sublime
manner in which Bryant discusses it. His fine poetry awakes
the imagination, brings to the mind magnificent pictures,
and makes the subject almost attractive.

V. It is interesting to compare the present form of the
poem with its first form. Has the poet improved the following
early lines?

Line 40. The venerable woods — the floods that move
In majesty — and the complaining brooks,
That wind among the meads and make them green,
Are but the solemn decorations all

Line 47. Are glowing on the sad abodes of death.

Line 50. Take the wings

Of morning — and the Barcan desert pierce —
Or lose thyself in the continuous woods
That veil Oregon, where he hears no sound

Line 58. So shalt thou rest — and what if thou shalt fall
Unnoticed by the living — and no friend
Take note of thy departure? Thousands more
Will share thy destiny. — The tittering world
Dance to the grave. The busy brood of care
Plod on, and each one chases as before
His favorite phantom. —

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT 121

Bryant once wished to change line 51 to "traverse the Bar-
can desert/7 but his editor insisted on " pierce." Why? See
Godwin I, 176 and II, 288.

VI. Discuss the poet's feeling for nature as shown in this
poem.

VII. Compare Thanatopsis with June in subject matter
and style. How is the difference in effect produced?

VIII. Read the poem aloud. Try to show by your reading
what you have learned about the sustained majesty of its
style.

With line 50 compare Psalms 139:9. "If I take the wings of
morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea." Bryant
tells us to travel in imagination with the speed of morning light
and the comprehensiveness of advancing day from the far east
(the Barcan desert in Africa) to the western Oregon (Columbia
River); even in these lonely places, these "uttermost parts," the
dead are found. The phraseology which the Psalmist uses to ex
press the omnipresence of God, the poet adopts to express the
omnipresence of Death.

THE FLOOD OF YEARS

I. Thanatopsis was the young Bryant's "vision of death."
When the poet was eighty-two years old (in 1876), he wrote
another poem on the universality of death, and it is interest
ing to observe that he adds to his picture of death the an
ticipation of a life beyond; he does not stop at the grave
now, as he did in Thanatopsis. And he expresses in this
later poem the sympathy with human sorrow that would
naturally grow out of the experiences of life.
Read the poem carefully, with this outline : —
1. The work of the Flood in the " Life that is" — devasta
tion: lines 1-122.

122 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

a. It bears away' all persons and all things:

(1) Men of every age and class,

(2) The cities and nations of earth — illustrations.

b. A look at the Past shows nothing but the devastation

of the Flood, and the sorrow that has accompanied
loss and disappointment.

c. The earthly future, "where the Flood must pass,"

mingles hope and fear; finally the Flood passes the
dark barrier of Death, " where the life to come
touches the life that is."

2. The work of the Flood in the " Life to come " — restora
tion: lines 122-152.

a. All that have been swept away re-appear: lines

125ff.

b. And are carried into realms of peace and beauty:

lines 134ff.,

c. Where friends are united: lines 140ff.,

d. And there is eternal happiness: lines 143ff.

II. The expression of the thought we find in this poem
should naturally be dignified and solemn. As the basis
of the whole, Bryant uses a majestic metaphor, compar
ing time to an everlasting and all-powerful flood. The
figure has probably occurred to many men besides Bryant.
Who can sit quietly and thoughtfully on the bank of a stream,
watching its never-ending current flow past him, without
being impressed by its continuance and irresistibility; without
saying to himself, "These bits of wood and other debris are
borne along on this river as we human beings are borne on
the stream of time?" Go through Bryant's poem carefully,
and list all the words that belong to his fundamental met
aphor. You will find that all those before line 122 picture
the flood as rough, stormy, violent, devastating. Those

WILLIAM CULLEN BRYANT ' 123

after line 122 picture the flood as calm, peaceful, beneficent.
Refer again to the outline, and explain why this is so.

1. Find all the other figures used in the poem, and explain

them accurately.

2. Discuss the use of specific words (verbs as well as

nouns) > of epithets, of poetic compounds, to make
vivid the description of the path of the Flood in the
present life and in the life to come. Observe contrasts,
as "Emperor" and "felon," etc. Notice especially
such words as "stricken" (line 43) and "overpays"
(line 145).

3. The sentences are rather long, and, since the poem con

tains much enumeration, the sentences contain many
series of phrases and some balance.

4. Discuss the meter. The rhythm is somewhat like that

of a chant; each phrase should be read as a unit,
smoothly, monotonously for the most part, and rather
quickly. In which part are there the most run-on
lines? In which is the phrasing more long and sweep
ing? Why?

5. Make a list of onomatopoetic words used in the poem.

Discuss the harmony of sound and meaning. Notice
all prominent cases of alliteration. In reading, you
should emphasize the explosives before line 122 and
the liquids and spirants after line 122; why?
III. Read the poem aloud. Keep in mind the powerful
movement of a mighty stream: in the first division of the
poem, dark, sweeping, and all-destructive; in the last section
not less mighty, but at the same time calm and gracious in its
course.

CHAPTER XIII
EDGAR ALLAN POE

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life, by George E. Woodberry; Boston, 1885.

Life and Letters, by James A. Harrison; New York, 1902.

Life, by Eugene L. Didier; New York, 1879.

The Mind and Art of Foe's Poetry, by J. P. Fruit; New York. 1899.

A Critical Study of Poe, by Arthur Ransome; New York, 1910

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Israfel, To Helen, The City in the Sea, Ulalume.
See also Appendix I, titles 28 to 32 inclusive.

THE BELLS

I. The excellence of this poem is in melody and harmony,
not in profundity of thought. The poem is made up of four
stanzas of unequal length, each describing the sound of one
kind of bell. The author's purpose is to recall to the reader's
imagination the sounds characteristic of various bells, and
to inspire in him the emotion appropriate in each case. The
first three lines of each stanza state its theme and set its
tone-color; the last line summarizes the effect of the stanza.

II. The first stanza describes the sound of sleigh-bells, here
conceived as silver bells, because of their " silvery," tinkling
music. The occasion is gay; the movement is rapid, the
sounds in the stanza are light and jingling. The predominant
vowels are the light vowels e and i, made in the front of the

124

EDGAR ALLAN POE 125

mouth, and these give the tone-color to the stanza. The
great number of liquid and spirant consonants make the
combinations smooth and flowing, in harmony with the
spirit of the occasion; some explosives are used for imitative
effects. The melody is aided by the alliteration of m (line 3),
s (line 6), r (line 10), and by the assonance of i (line 14) and
i (line 4). The words tinkle, jingling, and tintinnabulation
are onomatopoetic.

III. The second stanza tells of wedding-bells. As the
occasion is more formal and significant than that alluded to
in stanza one, the bells are made of finer material and their
music is less light. The tone-color of the stanza is richer and
deeper, and is produced by such vowrels as are found in
golden, world, happiness, harmony, balmy, molten-golden,
notes, tune, etc., these vowels having more resonance than
the e and i of stanza one. The melody is still carried on
smoothly by an abundance of liquids and spirants. Allitera
tion of h (line 17) and s (line 25), and assonance of d (line 20),
of i (line 22) of u (line 23) and of u (line 26) add to the music.
Gush and chiming are onomatopoetic.

IV. The third stanza strikes a new note at once in the
harsh word brazen, which gives the keynote for the tone-
color of the stanza, as silver suggests gay lightness and
golden suggests richness of sound in the two earlier stanzas.
The use of tale instead of world in the third line is sig
nificant in the tone-scheme of the stanza. The harsh
words scream (line 40), shriek (line 42), clang, clash, roar
(line 54), twanging (line 58), clanging (line 59), jangling
(line 62), wrangling (line 63), clamor (line 69) are onomato
poetic, and are admirably adapted to the purpose of the
stanza. Many of them are emphasized by repetition. Many
of the consonants are explosives, and this gives abruptness to

126 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the movement. With two exceptions (s in line 65 and / in
line 45) those emphasized by alliteration are explosives:
t (lines 37, 52), b (line 36), d (line 47), c (lines 54, 69). Asso
nance of a in line 69 adds to the vocalic effect. Lines 60 and
64 imitate the rise and fall of flames. Abrupt pauses within
the short lines help to produce the irregularity of meter
desired in this description of the jangling fire-bells.

V. The fourth stanza (lines 70-92), speaking of the stern,
heavy, tolling, deep-toned iron bells, has a slow, solemn
melody. The tone-color is made by long, deep vowels formed
far back in the mouth, so that they use the resonance cavities
of the head; especially by d. Liquid consonants make the
melody smooth; alliteration of m (lines 75, 83) and of r
(lines 97, 101) emphasizes the liquids. Assonance of and
frequent rime on d emphasize that sound. Groan is onomat-
opoetic. Toll, onomatopoetic, is emphasized by assonance,
repetition, and rime. The solemnity of the first part of the
stanza is relieved by the brighter lines 93-101, describing the
merry, fantastic sprite of the steeple. Here are found the
light, front vowels e and i, which give the tone-color of stanza
one. Lines 102-108 come gradually back to the tone-color of
stanza four; and the stanza ends with the effect of the iron
bells. The last half of the last stanza, therefore, gathers up
and summarizes the diction and the sound effects of the four
stanzas, and thus unifies the entire poem.

VI. One of the remarkable devices of the poem is the
repetition of the word bells, in imitation of the sound of
the bell. The word, like the stroke of a bell, begins with a
strong accent and dies away gradually; thus >. This is
true also of the words that rime with bells — tells, swells,
dwells, cells, knells, wells, etc. It is also true of the word
time, ( > ) repeated for imitative effect in lines 9, 96,

EDGAR ALLAN POE 127

etc. The words toll — tolling and their rimes are imita
tive in the same way, and more deliberate and resonant.
These imitative series should be read so as to bring out more
fully the effect of each stanza, the movement and melody
of the series varying with the spirit of the stanza. Lines 12
and 13 should suggest the jingle of the merry sleigh-bells;
lines 32-34, the glad peal of the wedding-bells; lines 65-68,
the harsh, clanging fire-bells; lines 108-112, the heavy, slow,
funeral-bells. The resonant ring of the bell is also in the
frequently occurring syllable ing, which should be pronounced
fully and clearly every time it .occurs.

Some long words, rather unusual in poetry, are employed
with excellent melodic effect: tintinnabulation, voluminously,
palpitating, for example. Two of these contain a consonant
repetition similar in effect to alliteration.

VII. The meter is trochaic, as befits the animated char
acter of the poem. It is natural to accent the stressed syl
lable strongly here, and so bring out the metrical structure,
and imitate the striking of a bell. This might be bad,
because distracting, in a poem that emphasized thought;
but it is good in one that emphasizes sound and music. The
lines are irregular in length, varying from monometer to
octameter. The majority are trimeter and tetrameter.
The first three lines and the last three are of the same form
in all the stanzas, and this produces a slight suggestion of
stanza-structure. In these lines the significant words are
joined and emphasized by alliteration, assonance, or internal
rime. Adjacent lines usually rime. This frequent rime,
especially on the word bell, helps much in the imitative
effect of the poem, as well as in the melody. Internal rimes in
lines 31, 35, 113 give an effect similar to the riming of short
lines. Feminine rime is found in tinkle — sprinkle — twinkle,

128 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

twanging — clanging, jangling — wrangling, people — steeple}
woman — human (imperfect).

VIII. Practice reading the poem. Try to bring out fully
the tone-color and the imitative effects.

THE RAVEN

I. Read the poem through for its story and its tone. Tell
the story in your own words. What is the tone of the poem?

II. Study the rhetorical devices that produce the sound
effects.

1. Meter: Number of lines in stanza; length of lines; foot;

lines 2, 4, 5, 6 end with a rest.

2. Rime: The end rime is abcbbb; b in every stanza is or; the

constant recurrence of this most resonant vowel and
most musical liquid has much to do with the effect
of the poem. Internal feminine rime in lines 1 and
3 of each stanza breaks in two these long lines. In
the middle of line 4 there is, in most stanzas, a femi
nine rime with the middle of line 3. Line 14 also has
internal feminine rime.

3. Other musical devices: Discuss the amount, character,

and effect of alliteration. There is not much asso
nance, because there is so much rime. Repetitions
emphasize the emotional effect; line 5 of each stanza
repeats more or less line 4; other repetitions occur in
lines 3, 82, 83, 88, 102. Find all the examples of
onomatopcea..

What sound persists as an undertone through the whole
poem? By what devices is it kept up? What is its
emotional effect?

III. In a critical essay called The Philosophy of Composition
Poe has explained his use of rhetorical devices in this poem.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 129

Read the essay carefully. Then read the poem again, this
time aloud, in order to feel the effect of its music. Does the
poem produce on you the effect intended by the writer?
Does it seem to you in the least mechanical and artificial in
the use of rhetorical devices? Do you think the lover felt
profound grief for the death of the lady?

IV. Read the poem aloud. Bring out clearly the sound
of or every time it occurs; let it be heard as a recurrent minor
note beneath the ripple of meter, alliteration, and rime.

If the student wishes to consult authorities other than Poe him
self (often a doubtful authority) concerning the origin of this poem,
he may turn to pages 156 to 159 of the tenth volume of the Stedman-
Woodberry edition of Poe's works. See also the Preface to the same
volume, pages xxxi, xxxii. Critics have been very industrious in
attempting to prove that Poe plagiarized the poem from various
obscure contemporaries, possibly because Poe was so ready to cry
"Plagiarist" at others, especially at Longfellow. The most in
teresting borrowings of Poe in The Raven are those from Coleridge
and Mrs. Elizabeth Barrett Browning. For his alleged indebted
ness to Coleridge, see volume six of the Stedman-Woodberry edition,
A Reply to Outis. Stedman points out the general similarity be
tween The Raven and Mrs. Browning's Lady Geraldine's Courtship
in meter, stanza, and diction, and the special likeness between Poe's
third stanza and Mrs. Browning's fourth. Poe greatly admired
Mrs. Browning (then Miss Barrett), and dedicated to her The
Raven and Other Poems.

Many of Poe's best known poems appeared in several forms.
When he had to furnish a poem to a magazine, he apparently pre
ferred to re-write an old one, rather than to compose one altogether
new. Persons interested in the changes, improvements, and vari
ant readings will find them collected in the notes to the tenth volume
of the Stedman-Woodberry edition. See also Henry E. Legler's
Poe's Raven: Its Origin and Genesis.

130 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

THE FALL OF THE HOUSE OF USHER

I. In his essay on Short Story Writing Poe says: —

A skillful literary artist has constructed a tale. If wise, he has
not fashioned his thoughts to accommodate his incidents; but having
conceived with deliberate care, a certain unique or single effect to be
wrought out, he then invents such incidents — he then combines
such events as may best aid him in establishing this preconceived effect.
If his very initial sentence tend not to the outbringing of this effect, then
he has failed in his first step. In the whole composition there should be
no word written of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the
one pre-established design.

Read carefully The Fall of the House of Usher, and decide
what effect Poe wishes to produce with this tale, whose
motifs are insanity and premature burial.

You will observe that Poe uses the word house in the
two senses: the "building" and the "family" (paragraph 3).
Explain the meaning of the title, using house in the second
sense. Does Poe intend the word to be understood in the
title in both senses?

II. The setting of the story (paragraphs 1-7) .

The guest approaches the house, which is described as he
f eels § and sees it. He describes it without and within. Show
how this description helps to produce, from the opening
phrase of the tale, the effect which the author has in view.
Note particularly the effect produced by the adjectives.
Could a story be a pleasant one with such a beginning?
Could anything agreeable happen in such surroundings?
Certain expressions are particularly suggestive; as "vacant,
eye-like windows," which reminds the reader of the "va
cant" eye of a person of infirm mind. The occasion of the
visit, too, is not pleasant (paragraph 2). In this introduction,

EDGAR ALLAN POE 131

note particularly the vivid and prophetic image of the house
in the tarn (paragraph 1), and the decayed condition of the
old building (paragraph 5, fissure).

III. Characterization.

Besides Roderick Usher, few persons are mentioned in the
tale: the servants, the guest ("I'7), the doctor, the sister.
The servants (paragraph 6) are mere figures. The guest is
the person by whom the reader lives through this horrible
experience; he is any spectator of normal mind — the reader
himself. The doctor is introduced merely to account for
keeping the body in the house (paragraphs 6, 21). The
sister appears only once (paragraph 13) to the " guest "
(i. e., to the reader) before her entrance in the hideous climax,
and then as a ghostly apparition; she is significant not as a
character but as an occasion for the events of the tale.

The real interest centers about Roderick Usher. His
disposition is first described in the French couplet with which
the tale opens:

His heart is a lute suspended;

As soon as one touches it, it gives forth sound.

His nervous and unbalanced mental condition, the extreme
of the delicate sensibility described in the couplet, was the
occasion of his friend's visit (paragraph 2). His whole
heredity (paragraph 3) tended toward an intellectual and ar
tistic sensitiveness that weakened, rather than strengthened,
the body and the character. The young man's person is
described (paragraph 8) in such a way as to make him seem
uncanny, stress being put on the expression rather than on
the features themselves. The analysis of his mind is given
in paragraphs 9-20. Observe the condition of his nerves,
the unnatural acuteness of his senses, his struggle with Fear;

132 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the character of his music and painting, his strange belief,
his taste in reading. His composition of The Haunted Palace
is significant, showing his consciousness of "the tottering of
his lofty reason upon her throne." The song is allegorical,
depicting the fall of the "Monarch Thought." The descrip
tion of the intelligent head, face, and voice occurs in stanzas
II-IV; that of the insane face and expression in stanzas
V, VI. Altogether, Roderick Usher inspires in his friend
(i. e.} the. reader) strange, vague terrors. The influence of
the sister's death on this wavering mind is stated in para
graphs 21-24.

IV. The author has now made clear a certain situation,
on which he wishes to base his narrative. A young man,
predisposed to insanity, and already somewhat unbalanced,
is completely unnerved by the death of his twin sister, to
whom he was 'especially attached, with whom he had a
peculiarly sympathetic affinity, and whose body is tem
porarily laid in the vault of the house.

V. The narrative of the night of horror (paragraphs
25-41).

1. Introductory (paragraph 25): tempest; nervousness of

guest ; mysterious sounds. Show why this preliminary
paragraph must begin a blood-curdling tale.

2. The entrance of Usher (paragraphs 26-29) : his condi

tion; the tempest.

3. The name of the book chosen for reading is significant

(paragraph 30) . Explain the use, in working up to the
climax, of quotations from the book read by the guest.
Compare each quotation with the description of the
sound that immediately followed it. Observe the
progressive nervousness and horror of the guest, and
the increasing excitement of Usher.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 133

The use of sound in working up to the climax of this
story is particularly good because Usher has already
been described as peculiarly sensitive to sounds.
Notice the progressive clearness of the sounds that
proceed from the " distant part of the house." Do
they tell you what is taking place?
4. Climax: appearance of sister; terrified flight of guest;

death of Usher and his sister; destruction of house.
VI. The motifs of this tale are the two most hideous an
author could choose — insanity and premature burial. One
dislikes to dwell on such topics. But it would be hard to
find another story with such perfect unity of tone as has this
one. Poe has followed without a fault his own teaching:
"In the whole composition there should be no word written
of which the tendency, direct or indirect, is not to the one
pre-established design."

Constantine the Great built in Constantinople a magnificent
palace of red porphyry, in which princes of the blood royal were
born. These princes were called "Porphyrogene." The use of the
title for the "Monarch Thought" in Usher's song suggests that the
mind is full of conceptions as splendid as the beauties of the Byzan
tine court at its most prosperous period.

Study of diction and sentence-structure and other rhetorical
features may be included in the structural study outlined above,
since the same principle of effectiveness governs them.

If possible, the class should now read Poe's Ligeia, with the excel
lent analysis of the tale printed in Hamilton's Materials and Methods
of Fiction, pages 189 to 195.

A DESCENT INTO THE MAELSTROM

I. Read the story through, and determine what effect the
writer wishes to produce by it. Think through the tale

134 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

again, and decide whether it is written with the same unity
of effect you found in The Fall of the House of Usher.

In this case the story must be told by the one who expe
rienced the adventure, because only through him could it
become known. The listener is the reader, as the guest was
the reader in The Fall of the House of Usher. As in the story
just analyzed, the introduction to the narrative is very long,
the description being largely disposed of before the narrative
begins, so that the narrative may move rapidly and without
impediment.

II. Introduction to the man's story: paragraphs 1-19.

1. Note the effect of the abrupt beginning.

2. The character of the adventure is foreshadowed by the

effect it had on the man's physique: paragraphs 1, 2.

3. The spot chosen for telling the story is important. It

is a high cliff overlooking the scene of the adventure,
the proper place to see the phenomena the writer has
to describe. The perilousness of the place where
the story is to be told also adds to the effect of the
story on the hearer. To be on top of the cliff,
even far back from its verge, would terrify any
normal person. The "old man," even in his " shat
tered nervous condition," is not disturbed by this
situation; and that fact helps us to realize that an
experience which he would call " terrifying" must
have been fearful beyond the power of an ordinary
imagination to conceive.

4. The place of the adventure is located: paragraphs 5-8.

Definite naming and placing make it seem real — •
"that particularizing manner" makes the account
more vivid.

5. An account of the Maelstrom in action is given in

EDGAR ALLAN POE 135

paragraphs 9-17. The fearful sight is made more
terrible by a stunning noise. Only to look on is
frightful beyond the power of words to express; how
much worse to be in it! The pretense to scientific
accuracy makes the account seem true. The notes
in your text doubtless tell you something of the
character of Poe's "science."

6. Transition to the narrative: paragraphs 18-19.

III. The "old man's'7 story: paragraphs 20-51.

1. Introduction: paragraphs 20-23. Habits of the

brothers; their courage; the matter-of-fact manner of
the narrator gives a semblance of reality to the story ;
the men are brought reasonably into a dangerous
situation. How is the ordinary danger shown?
Are these men so reckless as to forfeit your sympa
thy? Time — a deceptively pleasant day, three
years ago.

2. Narrative proper: paragraphs 24-51.

a. Combination of events leading to trouble: (a) "By

my watch" — significance of italics? (b) Unusual
and sudden storm. In the general introduction
an ordinary movement of the maelstrom oc
curred, and it filled the spectator with sickening
terror; how much worse is this combination of
hurricane and Moskoe-strom !

b. Trace the narrative step by step to its climax. Note

the use of noise to add to terror. Does the tale seem
real in Poe's manner of telling it? The situation is
terrible beyond description — beyond the grasp
of the imagination; the writer therefore tells
its effect on the men. One brother is made insane;
the other becomes calm and composed, and is

136 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

more conscious of awe and admiration than of
fear. He is even able to reason logically. Does
terror ever make men abnormally sharp-witted?
A calm style is necessary, as corresponding to the
spirit of the narrator, and because no language
could express the fearfulness of the situation,
c. The conclusion (paragraph 51) is very brief, and
gives few details about the escape. Why? How
does the narrator give all this the air of truth?
Compare the last five sentences with the two open
ing paragraphs of the tale.

III. Discuss in a written paragraph unity of effect in this
tale.

THE PURLOINED LETTER
Nothing is more hateful to wisdom than excessive cleverness.

I. Introduction: — The two stories by Poe already
studied were written to produce emotional effect — horror
and terror. This tale has quite another purpose. It is purely
intellectual. In accordance with his literary theory, Poe
tells us this at once. In the first paragraph he mentions two
of his earlier detective stories, and the policeman and the
amateur detective that figured in them. This, then, is a
detective story. It takes us to Paris in the time when France
was governed by a king, whose court was full of intrigue.
Read the story for pure enjoyment of its plot — of seeing
how the puzzle is solved. After that you may study in detail
the problem and its solution.

II. Analysis of the tale: —

1. State fully and accurately the problem before the
police. Who is the lady compromised? What power
over her has the Minister? What have the police

EDGAR ALLAN POE 137

done to obtain the letter? Can you think of anything
more they might have done?

2. Study carefully the difference in mind and character

between the Prefect and Dupin, as revealed from the
beginning of the story through the second visit of
the Prefect, and in Dupin's discussion of the Prefect's
mistake in the paragraph beginning, "For its prac
tical value it depends upon this."

3. The solution.

a. On what broad principle did Dupin begin his work?

Exactly what was the fault of the police?

b. Follow carefully step by step the procedure of Dupin

that ended in the recovery of the letter. To under
stand this thoroughly, you must remember that
before the day of envelopes the letter-paper itself
was folded and sealed, and the address was
written on the outside.

4. Was Dupin's interest in this affair entirely intellectual

and impersonal?

5. Within a few pages from the opening of the story you

know how it "comes out;" i. e.} you know that the
letter was recovered. Does that spoil your interest
in the tale? Give the reason for your answer.

6. What does the quotation below the title mean?

7. Does the tale seem true as you are reading it? What is

the effect of the discussion about mathematics?
Which of all Dupin's illustrations makes most clear
to you his reasoning about the principle of his search?

THE GOLD-BUG

I. Read the story for the pleasure you get out of it, yield
ing your mind entirely to the influence of the writer. You will

138 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

observe that in this tale, as in some others by Poe which we
have read, the author first gets out of the way his general de
scription of place and hero, so that, when he has once begun
to narrate, he does not have to stop for description, except as
fresh scenes are introduced. The matter-of-fact tone of the
first paragraphs tells you this tale is addressed to the intellect
and not to the emotions; compare this opening with the
emotional introduction to The Fall of the House of Usher.
The tale has two lines of interest: II 3 (below), the finding of
the treasure, and II 4 (below), the solving of the cryptograph.
They are inter-dependent, and the unity is therefore good,
because II 3 would be impossible without II 4, and II 4 would
be pointless without II 3. II 3, which by itself is a good story
of adventure, reaches climax and conclusion before II 4 is
begun. Besides II 3 and II 4 there is, after the general intro
duction (II 1), an opening narrative (II 2), introducing both
II 3 and II 4; it gives an account of the friend's first visit, ex
plaining what the gold-bug is, and bringing in the tone of
mystery. As in some other tales by Poe, the reader is
represented by "I," the friend of the hero, and the interested
witness of the adventure.

II. Analyze the tale according to the following outline:

1. General Introduction: setting, character.

2. Introductory Narrative: significant points in first visit.

a. Season and weather.

b. The bug had been lent, and must be described by

a drawing.

c. As there was no paper in the desk, Legrand used a

scrap from his pocket.

d. The dog, entering at the door opposite the fire, leaped

on the guest, who would naturally hold the paper
away from the animal and toward the blaze.

EDGAR ALLAN POE 139

e. Hints of a coming mystery.

(1) Earnestness of Legrand's reply to Jupiter as to

the bug's being " solid gold."

(2) Appearance of the skull when Legrand had

drawn the beetle.

(3) Conducfc of Legrand when he saw the skull.
3. The Discovery of the Treasure.

The sense of mystery is at once deepened and connected
with gold and gold-bug; the influence of the bug on Legrand
seems strange.

a. Introductory.

(1) Invitation to the second visit — mysterious hints

in Legrand's letter.

(2) Jupiter's account of his master's strange condi

tion.

(3) Jupiter's superstitious fear of the bug — the

origin of the "bit of paper."

(4) Buying of spades and scythes.

(5) Expedition decided on — Legrand appears un

balanced.

b. The search for the treasure. Follow carefully the

journey to the tree. Was the place described
naturally a good hiding-place? Note the difficulty
of approach, and the striking appearance of the
tulip-tree. Follow the action step by step to the
finding of the treasure. Mark the point at which
the object of the search is first openly stated; where
did you first suspect it? The delays caused by
Jupiter's mistakes produce suspense — for the
reader as well as for Legrand. His last mistake is
properly the most serious, and almost turns Le
grand from the search. Note the evidence of the

140 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

increasing excitement of Legrand; how did he be
have when, because of Jupiter's mistake about the
eyes, he for a moment abandoned hope? Mark the
point at which the friend (i. e., the reader) begins
to have faith; where did your faith begin? List all
the signs, from this point on, that there is really a
buried treasure. With faith and signs of success
the interest increases rapidly to the climax. The
minute description of box and contents gives
verisimilitude to the story, as scientific accounts
make some others among Poe's tales " convincing,"
in a literary sense. Does Legrand behave nat
urally when he finds himself successful? The con
clusion of this part of the plot is the removal of the
treasure to the home of Legrand and the deter
mination of its value.

The paragraph "When at length," etc. is transitional to
part 4 below.

4. The solution of the cryptograph.

a. Introductory: Legrand recounts the circumstances of

the friend's first visit; compare with II 1. He adds
that the "paper" was parchment, and tells of his
mystification about the skull. Is it necessary to
the story that the beetle should be found alive?

b. The parchment suggests pirate-treasure. Find four

reasons Poe gives for this.

c. Follow the course of reasoning that led Legrand to

develop the writing on the parchment.

d. After the cryptograph was made legible, by what

principle set forth by Dupin (in The Purloined
Letter) did Legrand decide whether it would be
hard or easy to solve? How did he know it was in

EDGAR ALLAN POE 141

English when so many of the old pirates were
Spaniards?

e. Explain clearly how he translated the symbols into

letters.

f . Explain clearly how he divided the clauses and sen

tences.

g. Explain clearly how he overcame the difficulties he

encountered in trying to apply the directions to the
landscape.

h. Does Legrand explain in the last eight paragraphs
any points about the hiding and the discovery of
the treasure left obscure by II 3? How does he
account for his apparent insanity?
III. General questions:

1. Which part of the tale is of greater interest, II 3 or II 4? Does
II 4 lose in interest because it comes after you know the treasure is
found? Should you prefer II 4 before II 3? Compare the management
of the plan and the escape in A Descent into the Maelstrom.

2. How essential is the gold-bug in II 3? In II 4? What is its office
in the tale? Justify the title of the tale. Why does not Poe tell us what
became of the bug? Is the story complete without that information?

3. Is the story probable? Does it seem probable? Does the introduc
tion of scientific fact (the chemical treatment of the parchment) give
it verisimilitude? Compare with the use of scientific material in A
Descent into the Maelstrom,

4. Is this location a better one than the coast further north for the
setting of a pirate story? Give the reason for your answer. Where was
"the Spanish main," once infested by pirates? Mention the essential
points in the setting.

5. Dialogue is not found very much in Poe's tales. Has he used it
successfully here?

6. How does he attempt humor in this story? Is he successful in
this regard?

7. Has Poe chosen an appropriate bit of poetry for the opening of this
tale? The drama All in the Wrong was written by an Irishman, Arthur

142 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Murphy (1727-1805). A scholar who has looked in the play for the
quotation tells us he does not find it there.

8. What did Poe know about the coast of South Carolina? Are his
descriptions accurate?

9. For a somewhat similar method of solution actually applied to
deciphering an inscription in an unknown language, see Dr. Hempl's
" The Solving of an Ancient Riddle," in Harper's Magazine for
January, 1911.

CHAPTER XIV
HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life, Letlers,and Journal, 3 Vol.,by Samuel Longfellow; Boston, 1886.

Final Memorials, by Samuel Longfellow; Boston, 1887.

Life, by F. H. Underwood; Boston, 1882.

Life, Works, and Friendships, by G. L. Austin; Boston, 1883.

Life, by T. W. Higginson; Boston, 1902.

Life, by W. S. Kennedy; Boston, 1882.

Life, by Eric S. Robertson; London, 1887.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

A Psalm of Life, The Reaper and the Flowers, The Light of Stars,
The Wreck of the Hesperus, The Village Blacksmith, The Rainy Day,
Endymion, God's Acre, Maidenhood, Excelsior, Nuremberg, The
Belfry of Bruges, Rain in Summer, The Bridge, The Day is Done, The
Arrow and the Song, The Builders, The Ladder of St. Augustine, The
Ropewalk, St. Filomena, Sandalphon, The Revenge of Rain-in-the-Face,
The Three Kings, The Sifting of Peter, Maiden and Weathercock, The
Windmill, The Phantom Ship, The Warden of the Cinque Ports.

See also Appendix I, titles 33 to 39 inclusive.

THE OLD CLOCK ON THE STAIRS

I. In his Journal entry for November 12, 1845, the poet

says: —

Began a poem on a clock, with the words 'Forever, Never,' as a
burden; suggested by the words of Bridainc, the old French missionary,
who said of eternity, "It is a clock whose pendulum says and repeats
without ceasing these two words only, in the silence of tombs — 'Tou-

143

144 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

jours, jamais! Jamais, toujours! ' And during these solemn revolutions a
condemned sinner cries, 'What time is it?' and the voice of another
wretch responds, 'It is eternity!'"

The country seat and the clock belonged to relatives of the
second Mrs. Longfellow, who lived at Pittsfield, Massachu
setts. The clock is still in the Appleton family, and is said to
resemble very much the one that stands " half -way up the
stairs" in the Longfellow home at Cambridge. The clock
suggests to the poet the family life it must have seen in the
years it has stood in this central and commanding position.

II. Read the poem by stanzas aloud thoughtfully, with
this outline:

Stanza 1. The house and its location.
Stanza 2. The clock — its position and appearance.
Stanza 3. Its voice.
Stanzas 4-7. Its message.
Stanza 8. The family scattered.
Stanza 9. The eternal reunion.

State briefly and clearly Longfellow's purpose in writing
this poem.

III. What is the effect of the refrain? You notice in it the
predominating sound of the front vowel e and the liquid r.
Review Poe's discussion of his choice of resonant o and liquid
r for the refrain of The Raven. Notice that the rhythm of the
refrain in The Old Clock imitates the swinging of the pendu
lum, and the accents suggest the ticking. Is Longfellow's
refrain as good for his poem as Poe's was for his? Notice
how Longfellow has secured variety in the "application" of
his refrain; and notice that in the line introducing the refrain
in each stanza there is a word particularly suitable to the
thought, diction, or figure of that stanza.

IV. Discuss in detail the diction, figures, allusions, sentence-

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 145

structure, melody, and harmony of the poem. Pay particular
attention to the following notes and questions :

Line 10. Connect with the simile in line 12.

Lines 17ff. Why is the clock so noisy by night?

Line 34. What figure in Hospitality f Notice that the
pronoun his is used in referring to this noun.

Line 37. The skeleton was, in early, ascetic days, placed
at the feast to remind the revellers of their mortality. The
old exhortation was, " Prepare for death." Our modern
thought is, "Live; get all you can, in the best sense, out of
life." When we are happy, we do not wish to hear a warning
voice say, " Memento mori;" neither do we think that it
would be wholesome to spoil our pleasures with such an
admonition.

Line 45. Explain the figure.

Line 46. Told has the old meaning " counted."

Line 52. What figure of speech in snow?

Lines 65, 68. What emphasis do you make in these lines to
bring out the full meaning?

Line 69. Refer to the words of the French missionary in
explaining this metaphor.

V. Read the poem again, aloud. Try to express all Long
fellow's feeling about the never-ending succession of minutes
that make up time and eternity. The unceasing, insistent
regularity of the ticking of the clock forces the thought of
eternity upon you.

VI. Turn to Longfellow's little poem called The Tide
Rises, the Tide Falls. After a first reading tell the simple
story it relates. Read a second time, giving particular atten
tion to the refrain. How are the two phrases of the refrain
imitative? Why is the absolute monotony of this line, re
curring so frequently, an artistic feature in this poem? Read

146 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the poem to bring out the sound effect intended by the
writer.

MY LOST YOUTH

I. In his Journal for March 29, 1855, the poet says:

A day of pain; cowering over the fire. At night as I lie in bed, a poem
comes into my mind — a memory of Portland, my native town, the city
by the sea.

'Sitteth the city wherein I was born
Upon the seashore.'

— DANTE, Inferno V, 97.

Under March 30 we read :

Wrote the poem; and am rather pleased with it, and with the bringing
in of the two lines of the old Lapland song,

A boy's will is the wind's will,

And the thoughts of youth are long, long thoughts.

See Life, Letters, and Journal, II, 284.

II. Study first in this poem the stanza structure. There
are ten stanzas of nine lines each, and the movement is iambi c-
anapestic. How many feet in the various lines? What is
the rime-scheme? Notice in each stanza the rime of line 6
with long in line 9. The movement brings out the tone of
quiet, meditative reminiscence. Observe the number of
long, retarding vowels.

The last two lines of each stanza repeat the refrain; the
two lines immediately before them introduce it. The special
thought, then, of each stanza is in its first five lines.

The first stanza introduces the theme and states the source
of the refrain; stanzas two to eight speak of the poet's
memories of his boyhood in Portland; the ninth and tenth

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 147

stanzas conclude the poem by telling how the man feels
when he revisits the old home.

III. Each stanza should now be studied as a unit. What
is the subject of each? Which speak of events and surround
ings of his boyhood? Which of feelings? How does the poet
enrich and strengthen his expression, and make his descrip
tion vivid by his choice of words and use of figures? Does the
sound add to the emotional effect in any of the stanzas?

The following notes explain the only allusions that could
possibly be obscure : —

The fortifications of Portland were made during the second
war with England, Portland then being a much more promi
nent harbor than now.

Of the naval battle near Portland, Austin (Longfellow,
p. 42) says:

On September 4, 1813, The Boxer, British brig of war, Captain S.
Blythe, was captured off the Maine coast by the American brig Enter
prise, Lieutenant W. Burrows, and on the morning of the seventh was
brought into Portland harbor. On the next day both commanders, who
had been killed in the encounter, were buried with imposing and im
pressive ceremonies in the cemetery at the foot of Munjoy's Hill.

Deering's Woods was a grove near Portland, a favorite
resort among the young people.

Hesperides is explained by books on mythology.

IV. Turn now to the refrain, taken from the " Lapland
song." With the first line compare, — "The wind bloweth
where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but
canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth." —
John 3:8. What adjectives used in the poem to describe the
song describe also the willfulness of a boy's impulses? Ex
plain the second line from your own thoughts and dreams of
the future. Which stanzas in the poem are subjective?

148 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

What specific words do you find in these defining the "long,
long thoughts" of boyhood?

Is the retard at the end of each stanza in harmony with the
thought?

Regarding the use of a refrain, Poe says: —

As commonly used, the refrain, or burden, not only is limited to
lyric verse, but depends for its impression upon the force of monotone — •
both in sound and thought. The pleasure is deduced solely from the
sense of identity — of repetition. I resolved to diversify, and so
heighten, the effect, by adhering, in general, to the monotone of sound,
while I continually varied that of thought; that is to say, I determined
to produce continuously novel effects by the variation of the application
of the refrain — the refrain itself remaining, for the most part, un
varied.

— The Philosophy of Composition.

Poe later explains that the variation of " application "
consists in leading up in different ways to the refrain.

Show how Longfellow, in the two lines that lead up to the
refrain in each stanza, has attained not only variety, but
also harmony with the thought and diction of the stanza.

V. Read the poem from beginning to end aloud. Bring
out the note of pathos which must belong to any man's
memory of his " lost youth." Remember what Poe says of the
value of the " monotone of sound" in the refrain, and of the
" variation of the application" in the lines that lead up to it.

THREE FRIENDS OF MINE

I. These five sonnets form the five stanzas of one poem.
The first sonnet is introductory, the last is a conclusion, and
the three intermediate ones are addressed to the three friends.
The line is iambic pentameter, and the rime-scheme is abba
abba for the octave, and cde cde for the sestet.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 149

The octave of the first, or introductory, sonnet expresses
the poet's feeling for the character of his friends; the sestet
expresses his sense of loss in their death and his thought of
them in the new world to which they have gone.

II. The second sonnet commemorates Charles C. Felton,
for many years Professor of Greek at Harvard, and at the
time of his death president of the College. For an account of
the friendship of Longfellow with Felton and with the two
men celebrated in the two stanzas following, the student
should consult Longfellow's Life, Letters, and Journal. (See
their names in the index.) In this sonnet written for Felton
the allusions are properly all to Greek literature and history,
for he was a celebrated Philhellene (" lover of Greek ") in
his day. The last three lines of the sestet express the poet's
grief for the loss of this friend.

The third sonnet is in honor of Louis Agassiz, a Swiss by
birth, Professor of Natural History at Harvard. Longfellow
has addressed other poems to Agassiz. (See the index to
Longfellow's Poems.) Agassiz was not only a great scientist
but a man of high and noble character and poetic soul. Whit-
tier, Lowell, Holmes, and other New England poets have
written in his honor. Show how this sonnet appropriately
commemorates the greatest scientist of his time. The " cot
tage door" is that of the summer home by the sea, where
Agassiz studied the forms of sea-life.

The fourth sonnet is in honor of Charles Sumner, the fa
mous senator from Massachusetts, to whom, as well as to
Charles C. Felton, Longfellow refers in his poem To the River
Charles. Charles River at Cambridge flows beside Mount
Auburn Cemetery ("The City of the Dead"), where are
buried Sumner, Agassiz, Longfellow, Lowell, Holmes, and
other illustrious men of Boston and Cambridge. Notice

150 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

particularly the beauty and suitableness of the figures of
speech in this fourth sonnet.

III. The concluding sonnet takes us to the poet's library,
and shows us the summer scene he beholds from his window —
the lilac hedge that separates his lawn from the street, the
winding River Charles at flood tide, the misty Brighton mead
ows — a view he has often enjoyed with his three friends.
The sonnet closes with an expression of the unsatisfied long
ing felt by one who lingers when his dearest have passed on.

IV. Read the poem aloud. Try to bring out its music and
its haunting note of loneliness and longing.

THE ARSENAL AT SPRINGFIELD

I. This poem was suggested by a visit Mr. Longfellow, his
wife, and Mr. Sumner made to the United States Arsenal
at Springfield, Massachusetts. Mr. Sumner remarked that
the money paid for the weapons would have been better
spent in building and furnishing a library (see stanza 9), and
Mrs. Longfellow asked her husband to write a peace poem.
In response to his wife's request, the poet might write in
praise of the arts of peace, or he might show the horrors of
war. Which method does he choose? Compare the effect
of this poem with that of some poem setting forth the pomp
and glories of war — with Tennyson's Charge of the Light
Brigade. The latter shows us that certain virtues — as cour
age and prompt, unquestioning obedience — are developed
in battle; on reading it we feel as if we should like to be sol
diers and do something brave. Do you feel that when you
read Longfellow's poem? Has he written a peace poem?
See Life, Letters, and Journal by S. Longfellow, II, 2, 3, 18, 19.
The thought of the poem is, however, optimistic : though war

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 151

has prevailed in the past (lines 11, 12), peace will some day
reign among the nations of earth (lines 41, 42).

II. As the Longfellow party stood before the stacked mus
kets, Mrs. Longfellow remarked that they looked like the pipes
of a great organ, and that Death would bring mournful music
from them. The poet adopted his wife's comparison for the
base of his poem, and constructed it on simile and metaphor
taken from her remark. Read the poem once more, noting
every word that belongs to this figure.

In harmony with this predominating figure of speech, the
poem speaks chiefly of the sounds of war instead of the sights
of battle. It mentions the war instruments of several nations
celebrated for their warlike character. Make a list of in
struments ; also a list of nations, and tell why these particular
ones are mentioned here. What sounds are named as coming
from the victims of war? What from the soldiers? What
sounding weapons are named? What sounds made by
weapons? List the adjectives describing the sounds of war,
and observe their character. Mark the onomatopoetic words
in all the lists you have made when working out the questions
in this paragraph.

In contrast to the terrible sounds of war are the sweet
and tender ones of peace. Make a list of peace sounds men
tioned in the poem. Observe the character, of the adjectives
that describe them, and mark all onomatopoetic words. In
stanzas 8 and 12 you will find the contrast between sounds of
peace and those of war particularly striking.

Discuss the use in this poem of other devices for producing
sound-effects; as assonance and alliteration, choice of words
containing explosives or spirants, etc. Why is the poem so
strong in sound devices? The prevailing foot is iambic, and
there are five feet in a line. There is much variety in placing

152 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the accent, but the iambic rhythm prevails. An extra un
accented syllable at the end of lines one and three of each
stanza gives them a falling cadence and makes a feminine
rime.

III. Study the poem for other figures beside the basal met
aphor. The allusion to Cain should be explained by refer
ence to Genesis 4:15, and Ezekiel 9:4. A sign was set in the
forehead of Cain, which branded him as the murderer of his
brother. Explain dark (line 41) as "obscure, unknown;" and
refer line 43 to stanza 3.

In stanza 8 Longfellow refers to one of the beautiful and
poetic notions of ancient science. The old philosophers be
lieved that the spheres which carried about the heavenly
bodies made, in their turning, most exquisite melodies —
"the celestial harmonies."

IV. Read the poem aloud. Strive to bring out the sound
effects studied above — onomatopoea, alliteration, contrast
between the harsh and the melodious, etc. They are im
portant because they help greatly to accomplish the purpose
of the poem — to make war hateful and peace lovely.

THE SKELETON IN ARMOR

I. This poem was written in 1840. In 1838 the poet re
corded in his journal his interest in Scandinavian Sagas, and
his intention to write a series of ballads on the visit of the
Vikings to the western world. (Life, Letters, and Journal,
I, 297). Later he visited Newport, and, passing through
Fall River, saw the skeleton which had been unearthed at
that place. He decided then on a heroic poem in which the
Round Tower at Newport and the Skeleton in Armor should
have a part. (Life, Letters, and Journal, I, 335, 379.) The
skeleton was supposed at first to be that of a Viking, but

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 153

scholars do not now believe that it is Norse. (See Justin
Windsor's Narrative and Critical History of the United States,
I, 105.). However, the historical truth or untruth of its
story makes no difference in the literary quality of the ballad;
and every person who has made a little study of the old
Northern Sagas must see how wonderfully the poet has
caught their spirit and imitated some qualities of their style.
In a letter to his father, December 13, 1840, he says, "Of
course I make the tradition myself; and I think I have suc
ceeded in giving the whole a Norse atmosphere." (Life,
Letters, and Journal, I, 379.) Look through the index to
Longfellow's Poems, and see what other tales he has from
the Norse.

II. Read the poem carefully, with the outline given below.

1. Introduction: lines 1-24.

a. Apostrophe of the poet to the Skeleton.

b. Introduction to the Skeleton's speech.

c. The Skeleton's introduction to his tale.

2. The Tale of the Skeleton: lines 25-159.

a. His youth : lines 25-40. What qualities are developed

in him by his education?

b. His young manhood.

(1). Life as a Viking: lines 41-64.
(2). Love and marriage: lines 65-132.

c. His life and death in the New World: lines 135-160.

3. The last stanza is the Viking's conclusion to his tale;

the last line is the poet's conclusion to his poem.

III. Study the Norse features of the poem.

1. In the general expression: Norse poems and tales some
times seem to us a little abrupt. They often pass
briefly over a dramatic Situation that the more
effusive poets of southern Europe would make much

154 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

of. The Old Norse poetry shows, also, great emo
tional self-restraint, often speaking briefly and simply
of intense feelings. Illustrate these qualities from
the ballad.

2. The pictures of Norse customs correspond well with

accounts we have of them in the old stories. What
do you learn from this poem about the education of
young Norsemen; about drinking, feasting, Berserks,
story-telling, class feeling, etc.? Make a list of words
referring to Norse and mediaeval customs, literature,
beliefs, etc. Notice particularly in the last stanza
their belief that they will drink in Valhal around the
table of Odin. Skoal is a drinking salutation, like
"Your health." Heart's chamber for "chest" or
"bosom" reminds one of the old Germanic "ken
ning," or round-about poetic expression. The proper
nouns, too, are Germanic. Notice geographical
names.

3. Figures. — Give particular attention to the metaphors

and similes. Does the Viking use those that a man
of his experience as hunter and sailor would be likely
to choose? Do not be surprised because he is so
• poetic; the old Norsemen were full of imagination.
How does the Viking speak of the Princess in figure?
Of himself? Why? Are the figures used in the first
two stanzas in harmony with those in the body of the
poem? Do you find other figures besides simile and
metaphor? Explain the allusion in line 5. Explain
this in line 24. To what question is line 24 an
answer?

IV. Longfellow could not here use the regular ballad
stanza (see Lowell's The Singing Leaves), because it would

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 155

suggest Early English and not Norse. Neither could he
imitate the old Norse line, because that poetry was entirely
different from our modern verse in structure. However, he
has chosen a rhythm that suggests something of the move
ment of the old Teutonic. The stanza of this poem is the
same as that of a part of an old ballad written in the days of
Queen Elizabeth, Dray ton's Battle of Agincourt. There are
three lines of three feet ending in a rest, followed by one line
of two feet. The movement is trochaic and dactylic. The
rimes are aaabcccb; b is feminine. There is a pause at the end
of most of the lines, and the sentences have the effect of
being short (though they are not), because they are made up
of short, line-bound phrases. Notice the amount of sentence
inversion, and explain its effect here.
V. Read the poem aloud.

In an article by Edward Thorstenberg entitled The Skeleton in
Armor and the Frithjof Saga, may be found many interesting paral
lels between Longfellow's poem and the modernization of an old saga
by the Scandinavian poet Tegner. See Modern Language Notes,
Vol. XXV, No. 6 (June, 1910), pages 189-192. Longfellow knew
and admired the work of Tegner.

THE BUILDING OF THE SHIP

I. As a boy, Longfellow lived in Portland, Maine, in those
days the chief ship-building city in the country. Every boy
is, and ought to be, interested in the industries of the town
in which he lives. In his poem called My Lost Youth, Long
fellow tells of his interest in the wharves and the ships, and
we may be sure he had watched the construction of more than
one vessel. In later life, Longfellow often visited the seashore,
near which he always lived. What was the name of the

156 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

volume in which this poem first appeared? What other sea-
poems did Longfellow write?

II. Read this poem. You will notice that two lines of ac
tion are woven together: (1) the building and launching of the
ship, and (2) the courtship and marriage of the Master's
daughter. These two lines are united in four ways, (a) The
courtship is the time of building, and the wedding-day is the
day of launching, (b) The ship is named " Union" in honor
of the marriage, (c) The persons in the two lines are practi
cally identical: those in 1 are the Master and his assistant;
those in 2 are the Master's daughter and the assistant, (d)
The two lines are interwoven by an interchange of figures, the
ship and the sea being spoken of in terms of human life, and
human life in terms of the ship and the sea.

The building of the ship follows the natural, business pro
cedure. First, the order is given by the merchant (lines 1-4).
Then the plans are drawn by the master of the ship-yard
(lines 17-54). Then the lumber is brought into the yard
(lines 55-69). Then the work of building is actually begun
(line 70).

III. Study the style of the poem.

1. Diction. In a poem on ship-building, you will naturally
find many technical terms. These need cause you no trouble
if you look them up carefully in an unabridged dictionary; the
pictures in the dictionary will help you to understand the
explanations and definitions. Notice also the words in this
poem chosen from the poetic vocabulary.

2. Figures. A large part of the beauty of this poem is in its
figures, especially in its figures of comparison. Explain those
in lines 10, 20-21, 72-77, 155, 166, 202, 206, 219, 232-245,
255; are they appropriate to this poem? The figure in lines
117-121 finds its reverse in lines 258-284, 350-365, and is

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 157

A Ship on the Blocks

158 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

continued in lines 368-376. This is the comparison men
tioned above as binding together the two thoughts of the
poem, the ship being spoken of in terms of the bride (and vice
versa) and the sea in terms of the bride-groom (and vice
versa). This figure is particularly beautiful and effective in
this poem, and should be thoroughly studied. The word
pastor (line 300) suggests the metaphor of the next four
lines, for the original meaning of pastor is " shepherd." The
metaphor of lines 308-315 is appropriate in discussing a
sailor's life ; explain it fully. The wedding sermon of the good
pastor (lines 317-339) is addressed to a sea-faring company,
and he speaks to them, very wisely, in terms of the sea. Ex
plain clearly his metaphors. Discuss also the use of apos
trophe and personification in this poem.

3. The poem contains a number of literary allusions. The
metaphor "wooden wall" applied to the ship (line 69) refers
to a famous utterance of the Delphic oracle when Xerxes was
invading Greece. Explain the allusion. The " Great Harry"
(line 29) was a ship built in England under Henry VIII;
Longfellow tells you its faults in construction. Argosy
(line 73) recalls the expedition of Jason in quest of the Golden
Fleece. "The Spanish Main" (line 151) recalls those ro
mantic days when West Indian seas were infested by the
Spanish pirates. Lines 157-162 take us to the shores of
the Indian Ocean. Lines 213, 214, contain names from
classic mythology. "The Fortunate Isles" (line 337) ex
isted in the belief of seamen of other days as an abode of the
blessed after death.

4. Not a great deal of narrative power is required for this
poem, the action being the slightest possible. The descrip
tion of the ship is of the sort sometimes called "dynamic,"
i. e., the poet describes the ship by giving an account of its

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 159

construction: the modeling (lines 17-50); the purchase of
timber (lines 55-69); the building of the hull (lines 128-139,
176-207); the placing of the figure-head (lines 208-222); the
procuring of timbers for masts (lines 228-245); the raising
of the rigging (lines 246-257). A fine picture in words, the
one which furnishes the best opportunity for an illustrator of
the poem, is that of the evening hour of rest (lines 144-175).
The setting is the dim porch of the Master's house. The
Master sits in the back-ground in the attitude of a story
teller. The red glow from his pipe lights up his own features
and the young people in the foreground — the hero and the
heroine of the poem. The picture, with its deep shadows and
its one dash of light in the center, might be painted by a
disciple of the great master of light and shade, Rembrandt.

IV. The conclusion of the poem.

When Longfellow sent the poem to his publisher, it ended
as follows : —

Line 360. How beautiful she is! How still

She lies within these arms that press
Her form with many a soft caress!
Modelled with such perfect skill,
Fashioned with such watchful care!
But, alas! oh, what and where
Shall be the end of thing so fair?
Wrecked upon some treacherous rock,
Or rotting in some noisome dock,
Such the end must be at length
Of all this loveliness and strength.

They who with transcendent power
Build the great cathedral tower,
Build the palaces and domes,
Temples of God and Princes' homes,
These leave a record and a name.
But he who builds the stately ships,

160 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The palaces of sea and air,
When he is buried in his grave
Leaves no more trace or mark behind
Than the sail does in the wind,
Than the keel does in the wave.
He whose dextrous hand could frame
All this beauty, all this grace,
In a grave without a name
Lies forgotten of his race.
See Life, Letters, and Journal, Appendix V.

The publisher objected to this "sad" ending, and the poet
wisely consented to change it. It is entirely out of harmony
with the poem as a whole, which tells of glad activity and
successful achievement. It would not do to conclude such a
poem by a cynical arraignment of the world for neglecting its
ship-architects, to say nothing of the false statement that it
has preserved the names of all its great builders of churches
and palaces. Moreover, the day of marriage and of launching
the ship is a day for congratulation, not for foretelling evil.
And the prophecy of disaster or decay for the ship foretells
evil for the bride, so closely have the two been related through
out the poem. We are glad, therefore, that the poet changed
lines 360-376 to an expression of good wishes for ship and
bride. But two of these new lines (366, 367) are difficult to
understand. They are in a paragraph referring to the ship,
but they cannot possibly relate to the ship; neither are they
coherently related to what is said of the bride in the next
paragraph. Lines 375 and 376, also, seem to be rather irrele
vant here. The final paragraph, fine as it is and much as we
admire it, is national in its reference, has no thought-connec
tion with the rest of the poem, and does not truly belong to it.
It is joined by means of the word Union (see also line 104) and
by a continuation of the figure, used so extensively through

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 161

the poem proper, applying to human life terms of the ship
and the sea. Think of the dangers that beset our nation in
1849, when this poem was written, and explain the paragraph
in detail. For remarks on the political significance of these
lines, see Austin's Longfellow, page 315. The Master and the
Workmen are doubtless the men who worked out our national
constitution. What man do you suppose to be the "Mas
ter"? Name some of the " Workmen." Some one has sug
gested that " Master" (line 382) may mean the Spirit of
Liberty, and that the founders of our government may be
the " workmen" under that inspiration. These concluding
lines were favorites of President Lincoln. See " Lincoln's
Imagination," by Noah Brooks, in Scribner's Monthly, Au
gust, 1879.

V. Study the musical effects of the poem: end rime, in
ternal rime, repetition, alliteration, assonance, onomatopoea.
There is no regular line and stanza, but there is poetic rhythm
of the most musical sort, and considerable regularity in the
meter. The short lines quicken the action, and the longer
ones make it slower. Are these devices used in the poem in
harmony with the thought? Mr. George S. Hillard wrote to
Longfellow: "I think that you deal most happily with that
irregular and varying stanza, which sinks and swells under
your hand, to my ear, like the gusts of a summer wind through
a grove of trees." (Life, Letters, and Journal, II, 166.)

The poem is divided according to topics into paragraphs;
it has no stanza-structure.

VI. Prepare to read the poem aloud. Try to express all
Longfellow wishes us to think and feel in reading it, and bring
out the music of the lines. Find in Longfellow's Journal for
February 12, 1850, the account of Mrs. Kemble's reading of
the poem. (See Life, Letters, and Journal, II, 172).

162 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Longfellow's poem is the best of the imitations of Schiller's
Song of the Bell, described in Thomas's Life and Works of Schiller.
"The bell-founder is an idealist with a feeling for the dignity of
man and of man's handiwork. As he orders his workmen to per
form the successive operations involved in the casting of a bell,
he delivers, from the depths of his larger experience, a little homily,
suggested in each case by the present stage of the labor. The
master's orders are given in a lively trochaic measure, while the
homilies move at a slower gait in iambic lines of varying length.
The fiction is handled with scrupulous attention to technical de
tails, and is made to yield at the same time a series of easy and natu
ral starting-points for a poetic review of life from the cradle to the
grave. The great charm of the Song lies in its vivid pictures of the
epochs, pursuits, and occurrences which constitute the joy and
woe of life for an ordinary industrious burgher. Childhood and
youth; the passion of the lover, sobering into the steadfast love of
the husband; the busy toil of the married pair in field and household;
the delight of accumulation and possession; the horrors of revolu
tionary fanaticism; the benediction of civic concord, — these are
the themes that are brought before us in a series of stirring pictures
that are irresistibly fascinating."

Dr. Thomas's statement about Schiller's meter is suggestive in
connection with the study of Longfellow's meter. And it is to be
observed that Schiller's poem leads up to the political condition
of Europe in 1800, when the horrors of the French Revolution and
the international complications rising out of it were uppermost in
the thought of every European. Longfellow closes with a reference
to the alarming political conditions in America in 1849.

For the influence of Horace on the last stanza of Longfellow's
poem, see William Everett's " The Ship of State and the Stroke of
Fate " (Atlantic Monthly, Vol. 76, pp. 18-23; July, 1895), where the
critic shows Longfellow's indebtedness to the Fourteenth Ode of the
First Book of Horace. Horace (B. C. 65-8) is probably expressing
his fear that the dangers of civil strife are not yet past for Rome,

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 163

the rule of Augustus being at this time not acceptable to all the Ro
man parties. The following is Conington's translation of the Ode.

O luckless bark! new waves will force you back
To sea. O haste to make the haven yours!
E'en now, a helpless wrack,
You drift, despoiled of oars;

The Afric gale has dealt your mast a wound;
Your sailyards groan, nor can your keel sustain,
Till lash'd with cables round,
A more imperious main.

Your canvas hangs in ribbons, rent and torn;
No gods are left to pray to in fresh need.
A pine of Pontus born
Of noble forest breed,

You boast your name and lineage — madly blind,
Can painted timbers quell a seaman's fear?
Beware! or else the wind

Makes you its mock and jeer.

Your trouble late made sick this heart of mine,
And still I love you, still am ill at ease.
O, shun the sea, where shine
The thick-sown Cyclades.

Quintilian says that Horace refers "in allegory" to the "ship of
state," in which case Longfellow's metaphor is the same; and his
diction is strikingly similar.

THE HANGING OF THE CRANE

I. The story of the origin of this poem explains in great
measure its form and diction. Longfellow was calling on a
younger poet, Thomas Bailey Aldrich, who had just mar
ried. As they stood in the dining-room door, Mr. Longfellow

164 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

remarked to his friend that the small round table would need
to be enlarged year by year as children should come into the
family; and that later, when the "young guests" should
grow up and make homes of their own, the table would close
again and the two original members of the family be left
alone once more. Thus the "sweet and pathetic poem of the
fireside" was suggested to Longfellow. (See the Riverside
Edition of the poem) .

The title of the poem refers to an old custom equivalent to
our " house-warming." As the last preparation for the
occupancy of the new home, neighbors and friends gathered
in it and placed the crane in the fireplace. The work of the
housekeeper could then begin, and the family life could be
taken up regularly. (For a fireplace containing the crane, see
the picture of the Whittier kitchen, page 190).

II. At first reading one can easily discover the general
structure of the poem. Part I is introductory, and represents
the poet as remaining after the guests have spoken their
good wishes and departed, and as sitting before the fire to
dream about the coming life of the family just established.
The other six parts contain the six pictures of home life that
drift through the mind of the dreamer, and carry the founders
of the family in his imagination from youth to old age. The
table is represented as the gathering place, partly from the
suggestion of Longfellow's words to Aldrich, and partly
because the entire family meets more often at the table than
anywhere else. Each picture is preceded by a prelude of six
lines. This breaking of the poem by preludes would not be
good in a continuous narrative or description, but is an
excellent device for keeping separate a series of six pictures
scattered over a period of fifty years. Tell what stage in the
development of the family each picture describes.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 165

III. After you thoroughly understand the general plan of
the poem, study it in detail. Do not pass over a word or
an expression without understanding it fully and recognizing
its force in the poem. The following notes may be suggestive
and helpful.

Lines 7-1 2: Who speaks these lines? See line 13. Explain
the simile in lines 10-12. The word harmonious refers to
the old belief that the spheres, revolving in their places, made
music of ineffable beauty. Why does this simile exalt the
home?

Lines 17-22: The prelude to the first picture speaks
of the character and transitoriness of the pictures that
drift through the poet's mind. Explain the simile in
lines 21-22.

Line 31 : Explain the simile.

Lines 37-42: The prelude to the second picture indicates
that the picture has changed. Explain the figure. The
"door" is that of the dining-room.

Lines 43-72: The diction of this part is governed largely
by the comparison of the adored and indulged baby to a
monarch. Make a list of the words brought into the poem
on account of this comparison. The baby is finally compared
to King Canute, who was obeyed implicitly by his subjects,
but whose word had no power over the tide of the sea. Find
the story in your English History. Why is the nurse com
pared to the sea? And why are the adjectives in line 69
applied to her? Other words in this part which should be
associated are angel (line 45) and celestial (line 52). Enter
tain and guest go back to Longfellow's words to Aldrich.
What line refers to the old proverb, "Speech is silvern, but
silence is golden"? Is the playful tone good in the descrip
tion of this picture?

166 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Lines 73-78 : The prelude to the third picture refers to the
change of pictures in the poet's mind, and contains two beau
tiful similes taken from nature. Explain the figures.

Lines 79-99: The comparison of the children to royal
persons is continued in this picture; what words are intro
duced because of this comparison? Observe the difference
between the life and energy of the boy in III and the beauty
of the little girl hi IV. Explain the simile in lines 92-96.
The last three lines of this part lead forward to the responsi
bilities and cares that must come into the lives of these
children later on.

Lines 100-105: This prelude recalls the two figures used in
prelude IV; explain exactly how. It then looks forward to the
picture that follows (line 103). This is the first of the pre
ludes to anticipate the picture; the others (except for a mere
reference in prelude III) have simply indicated the fact of
change. Explain the simile in lines 104-105.

Lines 106-129: For the reference to Ariadne (lines 107-
109) see your book on Greek mythology. Lines 113-115:
The hopes and fears which the maidens are too shy to express
are compared in simile to birds afraid to leave their nests.
Lines 116-125: The young men of the family are compared to
knights of old, who went out seeking adventure. Or they
may be in pursuit of some ambition, which they will not give
up though they find it hard to attain. The " lyric muse"
that frequents the solitudes represents the emotions — feel
ings one may express if he can, b\\t which he must bear alone.
Their high expectations are referred to in line 126; hope and
desire alternating with fear and discouragement in line 127;
the fact that work and hope make life worth living is sug
gested in lines 128, 129.

Lines 130-135: This prelude indicates the passage of a

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 167

considerable interval of time between part V and this part.
Explain the figure used.

Lines 136-162: "The magician's scroll" was a parchment
that granted wishes for its possessor, but shrank with every
wish. See Balzac, Le Peau de Chagrin (translated into
English under the title The Magic Skin). Refer line 142 to
line 108. What have the two sons of the family become?

Lines 163-168: This prelude contains a beautiful descrip
tion of nature. Explain the simile in line 167, and the word
ring; explain the personifications in line 166.

Lines 169-198: Lines 169-171 utilize in metaphor the
description in the prelude, speaking of life in terms of nature.
This closing part is remarkable for the way in which it
gathers up the earlier parts, and rounds the poem into rhe
torical completeness. Compare line 173 with line 1; line 175
with line 2; lines 182, 183 with line 108; line 185 with line 49;
line 186 with line 27; line 187 with line 7; line 188 with
line 13. The simile in lines 194, 195 refers to the number of
the descendants, children and grandchildren. ' The figure in
lines 196-198 refers to the apparent endlessness of the home
the parents have founded, one generation following another
in their imagination, through ages to come.

IV. Study the meter and rime-plan of the poem. The
preludes are all regular; state their length, their line-structure,
and their stanza-structure. The lines describing the pictures
are shorter and therefore more animated. Name the meter.
What can you say of the rime? Study the poem for allitera
tion, assonance, and other devices for securing melody and
harmony.

V. Discuss the feeling the author shows in each picture,
and the tone he gives the description of each.

VI. The poem as a whole is quiet and meditative — it is a

168 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

series of six dream pictures. The poet writes tenderly, as one
who has lived through these scenes and loves the memory
of them. This poem would earn for Longfellow the title of
"Poet of the Home and the Fireside/' if he had no other
claim upon it. The poem is true to life, inspires the imagina
tion, and pleases the artistic sense by its beauty of expression.
Read it once more, this time aloud, that you may enjoy the
harmonious whole and the charm of its music.

MORITURI SALUTAMUS

I. As the fiftieth anniversary of the graduation of the
class of 1825 of Bowdoin College approached, Longfellow
was invited to honor the occasion with a poem. He disliked
to write "occasional" poems, and hesitated to accept the
invitation. But, on seeing a copy of Gerome's picture, he
received an inspiration, and in ten days he had composed
what has been called "the grandest hymn to old age ever
written." Gerome's picture represents gladiators in the
Roman arena saluting the emperor before the combat.
"Hail, Ca3sar, Emperor! Those about to die salute thee,"
are their words. Longfellow's title means, "We, about to
die, salute" — a very appropriate title for an old man's
"hymn to old age." The Latin couplet from Ovid is also
appropriate :

Seasons slip away, and we grow old with the silent years;
And days course by, no bridle restraining.

II. Read the poem with the following outline: —

1. Introduction — explanation of the title, and references
to the picture: lines 1-4.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 169

2. Poem proper: lines 5ff.

a. Salutation to the College and its surroundings:

lines 5ff.

b. Salutation to the memory of the teachers, only one

of whom is living: lines 23ff.

c. Salutation and advice to the present students:

lines 60ff.

d. Address to classmates of 1825: lines 114ff.

(1) Words in memory of classmates dead: lines

114ff.

(2) Difficulty of speech in face of memory and emo

tion: lines 128ff.

(3) Fifty years of life described under the metaphor

of a set of books : lines 148ff .

(4) A moral tale, from the Gesta Romanorum, story

CVII: lines 170ff.

(a) Introduction: lines 170ff.

(b) The clerk and the treasure: lines 178ff.

(5) Application of the moral : lines 236ff .

(a) Much has been done by old men : lines 238ff .

(b) Age deprives men of power: lines 254ff.

every man should improve : lines 272ff .
The moral thought of the poem grows out of the story of
the clerk. The clerk represents the scholar who, for worldly
gain or ambition, forsakes his study, his simple life, his high
ideals. Longfellow exhorts his classmates to keep up the
life of the mind, scholastic interests and occupations till
"the evening twilight" has faded quite away. This thought
and exhortation remind us of Tennyson's lines (Ulysses.
lines 50-59):

170 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Old age hath yet his honor and his toil;

Death closes all: but something ere the end,

Some work of noble note, may yet be done,

Not unbecoming men that strove with gods.

Tho' much is taken, much abides; and tho'

We are not now that strength which in old days

Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;

One equal temper of heroic hearts,

Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will

To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.

How old was Longfellow when he wrote this poem? What
literary work did he do later? Do you think he followed his
own exhortation?

III. Study the poem in detail. Explain everything in
the least difficult in diction and figures. The following notes
may help you in some of the harder passages and some of the
more obscure allusions.

Lines 14, 15: Imperial and sovereign are suggested by the
Csesar of Gerome's picture.

Line 30: The one teacher left was Professor A. S.
Packard.

Line 34 : Dante; see Inferno XV, lines 82-87. His teacher
was Brunetto Latini.

Lines 52-59: St. Luke 19:12ff.

Line 70: Aladdin's lamp, when rubbed, would call up a
spirit, which would grant the wish of the possessor of the
lamp. See The Arabian Nights. Fortunatus was a mediaeval
worthy, who possessed an enchanted purse that would never
become empty.

Line 75: St. Matthew 17:20.

Line 78: Priam, King of Troy. See Iliad III, 145-155.
Lines 88, 89: Greek heroes of the Trojan war, eagerly watched
by the old Trojans because of their famous deeds. So the

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 171

aged graduates of the college watch the present students.
The simile "like grasshoppers" is Homer's.

Line 90: I Kings 20:11. What warning and advice has
Longfellow for the young men?

Line 97: See Greek mythology for the story of Marsyas.

Line 101: "Be bold," etc. See Spenser's Faery Queen,
Book III, Canto XI, Stanza 54.

Line 104: Hector, bravest of the Trojans, was slain in
battle. The dandy Paris fled from his foe. Which do we
honor more?

Line 109: The names of deceased graduates are marked
with asterisks in college catalogues.

Line 165: Longfellow exhorts his classmates to turn from
the past to the future. His exhortation forecasts the moral
of the story that follows.

Line 184: A clerk in the Middle Ages was a student.

Line 219: Ghostly means "spiritual."

Line 220: The Gesta Romanorum was a set of short stories
and anecdotes with morals. It was often used by the mediae
val clergy as a store-house of illustrative material. This tale
would have been appropriate as an illustration in a sermon
on avarice.

Line 235: Vanity means a desire to attract attention, to
win admiration.

Lines 240ff. : Cato was a Roman statesman and philosopher
(second and third century B. C.). Sophocles was a Greek
tragedian of the fifth century B. C. Simonides was a Greek
poet of the seventh century B. C. Theophrastus was a
disciple of Aristotle; his thirty short, lively character-sketches
were models for the English sketches of the seventeenth cen
tury by Hall, Overbury, etc. Chaucer, the great English
poet, died in 1400; his most famous work was The Canterbury

172 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Tales. Goethe, the German poet, lived from 1749 to 1832;
his greatest work was Faust.

Lines 278-280: See lines 241, 242, 246-7; Sophocles,
Simonides, and Chaucer.

Lines 282-285: Compare Browning's statement in Rabbi
Ben Ezra, about the wisdom and experience of old age.

IV. The poem is written in iambic pentameter, riming
in couplets. Study it for elements producing melody and
harmony.

V. The anniversary service for which the poem was written
was held in a church in Brunswick, Maine, where Bowdoin
College is located. Of the class of 1825, which had numbered
thirty-seven, thirteen were alive in 1875, and twelve were
present in the church. The poet's voice was low and trem
ulous with feeling, but was distinctly heard in all parts of the
room. The sight of the venerable poet surrounded by his
equally aged classmates was most affecting. Imagine the
scene. Put yourself in Longfellow's place — the place of an
old man revisiting the scenes of his youth. Think of the
changes, of the losses that must have saddened him. Realize
the poise of character of the man who could, under such
overwhelming memories, determine to be strong to the end.
Then read the poem as you think Longfellow read it at the
fiftieth anniversary of his class. For a description of the
reading at Bowdoin College, see Underwood's Longfellow,
page 223.

KERAMOS

I. The title of this poem is from the Greek, and means
" potter." The word ceramics, which we often see, is con
nected with it, and means "the art of pottery." About
1876 there was in America a great interest in the making

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 173

and decoration of pottery. An excellent display of native
pottery had been exhibited at the Centennial Exposition
at Philadelphia (1876), and many books had been written
about ceramics. One of these books, says the poet's brother,
interested Longfellow in the history of ceramics, and inspired
this poem. (See Life, Letters, and Journal, II, 460). "His
memory recalled the old pottery, still standing in Portland,
near Deering's Woods, where it had been a delight of his
boyhood to stop and watch the bowl or pitcher of clay rise
up under the workman's hand, as he stood at his wheel under
the shadow of a thorn-tree. There, within doors, amid the
shelves of pots and pans, he may have read the inscription
upon a glazed tile : —

' No handicraftman's art can with our art compare,
We potters make our pots of what we potters are.' "

Keramos was printed in Harper's Magazine for December,
1877. If possible, the class should consult this first edition
for the beauty of the illustrations.

II. Read the poem through carefully with the following
outline : —

1. Introduction — a picture of the potter at his work:

lines 1-50.

2. Poem proper: while the potter whistles his interlude,

the poet visits in imagination various lands in which
famous pottery is made or has been made :

a. Holland: lines 51-86.

b. France: lines 94-127.

c. Majorica: lines 134-145.

d. Italy: lines 146-244.

e. Egypt: lines 252-293.

f. China: lines 301-348.

174 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

g. Japan: lines 356-381.

h. The poet discusses the relation of Art to Nature:

lines 382-399.
3. Conclusion — the potter stops his work at the noon

hour of rest (lines 400-411).

The sight of the potter at work at his wheel starts the
poet to thinking of what he knows of the history of ceramics.

His meditation, or
"vision," to which the
potter's whistle makes
the accompaniment, is
occasionally interrupted
by the potter's song.
A stanza of the song
marks the change from
one country to another.
III. The constant
turning of the potter's
wheel, the continual
change in the shape of
the clay in the potter's
hands, remind • the
watching poet of the
mutability of all things,
material and spiritual.
The stanzas of the pot
ter's song supply the
moral thought of the poem, and all discuss change and
progress. Put them together into one song, and see how this
thought holds them, as a thread holds a string of beads to
gether. Even the two stanzas (4 and 6) in which another
thought is prominent, begin with the inevitable

A Potter at His Wheel

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 175

Turn, turn, my wheel.

As you go over the poem in detail, you will notice, also, that
certain thoughts in the potter's stanzas are suggested by the
context. The moral and spiritual thoughts are properly
expressed in metaphors drawn from the potter, his clay, and
the processes of his art.

IV. Study the poem carefully with the following notes
and questions: —

Lines 6, 7 : The hand commands the moulding of the clay,
though it, too, is made of clay. ( Job 33 : 6) .

Lines 9ff. : Refer to Longfellow's brother's remark on the
pottery at Deering's Woods, and discuss the fine picture in
these lines.

Line 19: A conjurer often read his incantation from a book,
and masked his face with a false beard.

Lines 43, 44: Explain the simile.

Line 47: See lines 18-21. For motley see lines 11-17,
and the "magician" fancy in lines 18, 19.

Lines 51ff. : A description of Holland. Explain. What
town is most important for manufacture of pottery? Line 70 :
The Dutch decorate their houses with blue china. What
shapes and patterns are named here? About the fire-places
are tiles with pictures on them; sometimes a long story is
told by a set of "painted tiles." Line 84: Flowers painted
on tiles.

Lines 88, 89 : How finely the bud and leaf unite this stanza
to the "vision " (lines 84-86)!

Line 97: The Charente is a river of southern France. On
it is the town of Saintes, the home of the great potter Palissy.
Palissy (16th cen.) experimented to invent improvements
in the glazing of pottery. He was just as poor as Longfellow
represents him. (See Palissy the Potter by Morley.) Com-

176 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

pare him with other inventors of whose poverty and perse
verance you have read.

Line 130: Isaiah 29:16. "Surely your turning of things
upside down shall be esteemed as the potter's clay : for shall
the work say of him that made it, He made me not? or shall
the thing framed say of him that framed it, He had no under
standing?" See also Isaiah 45:9 and Romans 9:20; and
Isaiah 64:8.

Line 139: Majorica is the largest of the Balearic Islands,
east of Spain. Its " softened" Italian name is Majolica,
and by this name the fine pottery produced there is called.

Line 147: The enchanter's carpet in The Arabian Nights
would transport the man who sat on- it wherever he wished
to go. See the tale of Prince Houssain.

Line 148 : The Mediterranean between Spain and Italy.

Lines 152-157: The Italians, as well as the Dutch, deco
rated their walls with tiles and pottery-ware. Gubbio is a
town near Perugia. Faenza is near Ravenna, and gave its
name to Faience-ware. Pesaro is on the Adriatic. All these
towns were celebrated for pottery, Urbino was the native
town of the great painter Raphael. "Angelic name," be
cause it belonged first to the Archangel Raphael. See Sacred
and Legendary Art, I, by Mrs. Jameson. Line 170: Francesco
Xanto Arelli do Rovigo (16th cen.), disciple of Raphael;
worked at Urbino.

Line 174: Maestro Georgio Andreoli (Gubbio, 16th cen.)
"used foliated scrolls as patterns, and terminated them in
dolphins, eagles, masks," etc. He was celebrated for golden
and ruby lustres, and for iridescent ware (see "madre-perl,"
or mother-of-pearl, line 175). A celebrated piece shows the
portrait of "Cana the Beautiful," of whom nothing is known
except her name on the "scroll," or name-place.

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 177

Line 197: Florence. The della Robbia family (fifteenth
and sixteenth centuries) were great artists in pottery. Luca's
most famous work is his Singing Boys, (lines 200-204).
Andrea's Bambinos, or "babies/' on the Foundling Hospital
at Florence, are also famous (lines 205-211).

Lines 212-225 refer to Luca's monument for Bishop
Benozzo Federighi, in the church of San Francesco da
Paula, between Florence and Bellosguardo. Is the church
easy to find? The life-size figure of the bishop is made of
pottery. Lines 222-223 compare the heat of the potter's
furnace to " purgatorial fires." From Longfellow's descrip
tion try to get an accurate mental picture of the tomb.

Line 288: Ausonian means " Italian." Line 229: Those
dug up; remains of old Etruscan cities. Line 233: The pic
tures on these may represent private sorrows, or (lines
234-244) classic tales. For allusions here, see mythology.
"Alcides" is Hercules; tell the story of his adventure with
the " Cretan Bull." "Aphrodite" is Venus, and her "boy"
is Eros (Cupid). Tell the story of Helen of Troy. Line 240:
Southern Italy was colonized by the Greeks.

Lines 253-260: Explain the geographical allusions in
these lines, and the metaphor in lines 258-260.

Lines 258-260: Is this metaphor good in describing the
Nile? Lines 264-268: Many of the early Christian hermits
came from the neighborhood of Thebes, and lived in the
Egyptian deserts. Lines 269-273: Description of Cairo.
Lines 275-281: See the story of "The Forty Thieves" in
The Arabian Nights. Lines 282-293: Patterns on Egyptian
ware, celebrated for its beautiful green enamel. Ammon,
Emeth, Osiris, and Isis were gods and goddesses; see mythol
ogy. The lotus is the flower symbol of Egypt; the ibis, or
crane, was a sacred bird; the Scarabee was the sacred beetle.

178 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Cleopatra was an Egyptian queen celebrated for her beauty;
Shakespeare has told of her great political influence and last
days in his Antony and Cleopatra. Line 293: Specimens
of ancient Egyptian ware are taken chiefly from the royal
tombs in the Pyramids.

Line 296: The poet has, in his imagination, visited these
races in Europe and in Egypt.

Line 302. River and mountains of India. Follow the
poet on the map and see what " desert sands," "gulf and
bay" he passes over. Line 303: "Sing" in poetry.

Line 304 :" Cathay " is China. Line 306 : The chief Chinese
town in the history of pottery. What does the simile in
lines 313, 314 tell you of the colors of Chinese pottery?
Compare with lines 320-324. What do lines 315-319 tell
you of the production of pottery in China? Line 326: The
"willow pattern" was a favorite in early New England.
It was originally Chinese; there may be one, two, or three
men on the bridge, but the form with one man is most com
mon. The series of pictures illustrates a pretty Chinese
romance. Line 334: Chinese tiles show dragons and other
fabulous beasts interesting to children. The dragon is impor
tant in Chinese mythology, and therefore in Chinese art.
Lines 338ff. : This celebrated pagoda was an octagon two
hundred sixty feet high, in nine stories. It was of fine white
porcelain bricks, and the stories were marked by green tiles.
The summit was crowned by a great gilt ball. Five pearls on
the roof served as good-luck charms, to keep off floods, fires,
dust-storms, tempests, and civil wars. From the eaves of
the various stories hung one hundred and fifty-two bells and
countless colored lanterns. This magnificent pagoda was
destroyed in civil war in 1853.

Line 359: The poet in his magic cloak (line 147) flies above

HENRY WADSWORTH LONGFELLOW 179

the country, and sees figures common in Japanese art. Lines
363-367: Explain the metaphor. Line 370: The sacred moun
tain of Japan, Fujiyama, often appears in art. Lines 378-
379: See line 359. Lines 368-379 enumerate the commonest
characteristics of Japanese art. Lines 380, 381: Where do
the Japanese get their patterns? These lines lead us into
the next thought-division of the poem.

Lines 382-399: State in your own words the art-theory
Longfellow here sets forth. Why is it placed here after
the description of Japanese art? Give illustrations. From
what sources have the art patterns mentioned in this poem
been derived? Do you agree with the poet?

Lines 400ff. : The conclusion properly attaches itself to
the introduction. With line 409 compare line 30. Explain
the life-thought in lines 415-418. This gives "the perfect
round" to the thought of the poem — from clay to art, and
back to clay.

If the poem can be illustrated by specimens of pottery it will be
far more interesting and vital to the students.

CHAPTER XV
JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life and Letters, 2 Vol., by S. T. Pickard; Boston, 1894.

Whitlier-Land, by S. T. Pickard; Boston, 1904.

Life, by T. W. Higginson; New York, 1902.

Life, by George Rice Carpenter; Boston, 1903.

Life, by F. H. Underwood; Boston, 1884.

Life, by W. S. Kennedy; Boston, 1883.

Life, by Richard Burton; Boston, 1901.

Life, by W. J. Linton; London, 1893.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

The New Wife and the Old, Barclay of Ury, The Angels of Buena
Vista, Maud Muller, Barbara Frietchie, Skipper Ireson's Ride, The
Pipes at Lucknow, The Dole of Jarl Thorkell, The Sisters, The Robin,
Kathleen, Mabel Martin, Marguerite, King Volmer and Elsie, Conduc
tor Bradley, King Solomon and the Ants, The Khan's Devil, The Bay
of the Seven Islands, The Wishing Bridge, St. Gregory's Guest, How
the Robin Came, Toussaint L'Ouverture.

And see Appendix I, titles 56 to 67 inclusive.

TELLING THE BEES

I. See Pickard, Life, II, 413-115; Whittier-land, 17, 18.
The title of the poem refers to an old New England custom.
When a member of a family died, the bees were informed of it,
and their hives were draped in mourning; otherwise they
would swarm and seek a new home.

180

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 181

The picture of the New England farm house is that of
Whittier's early home. Pickard says:

There were bee hives on the garden terrace near the well-sweep. —
The approach to the house from over the northern shoulder of Job's Hill
by a path that was in constant use in his boyhood and is still in existence,
is accurately described in the poem. The 'gap in the old wall' is still
to be seen, and 'the stepping stones in the shallow brook' are still in use.
His sister's garden was down by the brook-side in front of the house, and
her daffodils are perpetuated and may now be found in their season each
year in that place. The red-barred gate, the poplars, the cattle yard with
'the white horns tossing above the wall,' these were all part of Whittier's
boy life on the old farm.

We are not to suppose, however, that the "Mary" of the
poem was Whittier's older sister. She did not die till 1860,
and the poem is not a brother's poem (see line 21). Whittier
has merely described, as the setting for his little romance, the
farm he knew best.

II. The bereaved lover, a year after Mary's death (line 13),
is walking with a friend toward her home. "Here is the
place," he says, "to leave the highway and take the path that
leads through the gap in the wall, across the stepping stones,
and to the top of the hill from which Mary's house may be
seen." A little farther on they come in sight of the house
("There" etc.). Then they stop. The lover points out the
well-remembered surroundings of the farm house, and tells
his friend how, just a year ago, returning after a month's
absence (line 25), he had been informed, by the old custom,
of the death of Mary. The story is told with the simplicity,
dignity, and reserve of a New Englander of the class to which
the lover is supposed to belong. In spite of the slightness of
the action, the poet puts into it some suspense and leads
up to a climax. The slight narrative begins with line 21. As

182 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the lover approached the house, he stopped at the brook to
cool his face, for it was a warm day in June. At last he came
in sight of the house (line 27) . The effect on him of the first
sight of the hives is told in line 41. But the lover reassured
himself; of course the death must be that of the oldest mem
ber of the family (lines 45-48) . Line 49 mentions an ill-omen
for the dog's mistress. The fact stated in lines 50, 51
proved to the lover that the death was not, as he had sup
posed, that of the aged grand-father; and finally he heard the
words that confirmed his worst premonitions. The natural
approach of the lover to the house, his gradual appreciation
of the fact that something had happened, his alternate hope
and fear, his final certainty, make up the steps of the slight,
pathetic narrative from

The short and simple annals of the poor.

III. Study the style of the poem.

1. Discuss the diction of the poem: the use of specific
nouns in description; epithets; poetic compounds; genitives
for o/-phrases; etc.

2. Explain the force of the following figures:

a. The simile in line 13;

b. The metaphor in lines 18, 19, comparing the sun's

rays among the branches to an insect's wings
tangled in a cob-web;

c. The metaphor in lines 29, 30.

3. Versification: How many lines in a stanza? How many
accents in each line? What is the foot? In lines 3, 11, 14,
15, 16 you will find spondees. These retard the movement,
and prepare for the pathetic narrative. What is the rime-
scheme of the poem? Discuss the use of alliteration; of
assonance; of internal rime. The alliteration of s in lines 15,

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 183

16, 17, 53, 54 is particularly good, the repetition of the
spirant suggesting the insistence of memory. What harmony
of sound and thought in the line

Heavy and slow?

IV. Read the poem aloud. Bring out clearly its restrained
pathos. Imagine that you are the lover, telling the story to a
friend. Hear all the time in your ears the sound of the
chore-girl's song,

Mistress Mary is dead and gone!

THE HUSKERS

I. The account of the corn-picking and the corn-husking
furnish the poet occasion to make two fine descriptions: one
of a New England country landscape on an autumn after
noon, the other of an evening scene by lantern-light in the
barn.

Read the poem first with the following outline : —

1 . Introductory : —

a. General introduction: time, place, preliminary de

scription.

b. Introductory pictures:

(1) An autumn morning.

(2) An autumn mid-day.

2. The autumn afternoon, and the corn-gathering.

3. Sunset and early evening — transitional.

4. The husking-bee.

The poem is written in four-line stanzas, each line having
seven feet with iambic movement. The rime is aabb. The
melody is smooth and quiet.

184 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

II. Study adjectives and epithets used to describe the
season in the first stanza.

Does the poet describe the Indian Summer sunrise and
mid-day correctly? Observe carefully all the adjectives in the
second stanza.

III. Prepare to sketch, on a large sheet of paper, the land
scape described in stanzas three to eight. What field is most
important in this poem? Is it the one described with greatest
minuteness of detail? What persons does it contain? What
part of your picture should it occupy? Where will you put
the hills, orchards, meadows, woods, and farm-buildings?
What signs of life and motion in the picture? Notice the ad
jectives and epithets. How many of them refer to color? Are
they well-chosen? What color-words do you find that are not
adjectives? Why should color- words be so prominent in
this description? The metaphor in line 10 gives the Indian
Summer "atmosphere" to the picture; explain it clearly.

IV. The description of sunset (lines 31-36) follows that of
afternoon. With line 31 compare lines 6 and 34. Study word
by word the glorious picture of sunset and moon-rise in lines
33-36.

Lines 37-40 bring the farming people to the husking-
frolic, and introduce the second of the two main pictures of
the poem.

V. The interior of the barn is described as the background
of the picture. What, as main object of interest, should oc
cupy the center foreground? Who are gathered about the
pile of corn? What persons are to be made most prominent
in this group of young people?

From the lanterns hanging above this group light falls par
ticularly on the pile of yellow ears, and on the maiden and
the master. The other huskers are outside the brightest cir-

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 185

cle of light. The background for this bright center is the
shadowy barn, where sit the old men. Here is a study in
light and shade worthy of the great master, Rembrandt.

VI. The value of this poem is in its pictures of New Eng
land and New England customs. With perfect fidelity and
exquisite expression the poet leads us to paint in our imagina
tion scenes familiar to his boyhood, and rural customs fast
passing away. For its truthfulness and simple dignity,
The Huskers deserved to be esteemed most highly among
The Songs of Labor. What other industries are celebrated in
this group of poems? Discuss the Dedication.

VII. The master's Corn-Song has shorter lines than The
Huskers, and this gives it a more animated lyric character.
The lines contain alternately four and three iambic feet.
The rime is abab. Corn is compared with and preferred to the
fruits of tropic lands (lines 57-64). It is preferred even to
other products of our own latitude (lines 93-104). The
raising of the corn is described (lines 65-84), and the meal
is praised (lines 81-82).

Discuss the epithets used in The Corn-Song. Autumn is
personified and represented as bearing a horn of plenty
(lines 55, 56); possibly the poet had in mind the Roman god
dess Ceres. What metaphor in line 76? In line 88? The
color of the corn suggests frequent comparison to gold, and
that leads us, by metonymy, to wealth in general. See
lines 53, 54, 55, 80, 84, 96, 103.

THE ETERNAL GOODNESS

I. This is, perhaps, the best of Whittier's religious poems.
The student will appreciate better its spirit if he first will
read Jonathan Edwards' sermon on Sinners in the Hands of an
Angry God (Stedman and Hutchinson II).

186 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

The God that holds you over the pit of hell, much as one holds a
spider or other loathsome insect over the fire, abhors you, and is dread
fully provoked: his wrath towards you burns like fire; he looks upon
you as worthy of nothing else, but to be cast into the fire; he is of purer
eyes than to bear to have you in his sight; you are ten thousand times
more abominable in his eyes than the most hateful venomous serpent is
in ours. . . . O sinner! Consider the fearful danger you are in: it is a
great furnace of wrath, a wide and bottomless pit, full of the fire of
wrath, that you are held over in the hand of that God, whose wrath is
provoked and incensed as much against you as against many of the
damned in hell. You hang by a slender thread, with the flames of
divine wrath flashing about it, and ready every moment to singe it and
burn it asunder.

The Westminster Shorter Catechism, too, will give some
notion of the elaborate system of Calvinistic theology that
ruled New England in earlier days. The Quakers were a
liberal sect, and opposed to the iron-bound creed of the
orthodox New England churches.

For the influence of the Bible on Whittier, see Pickard,
Life, I, 37.

II. The poem is addressed to Whittier 's Calvinistic
neighbors. Read it with the following notes.

Lines 3, 4: What virtues have these Calvinists?

Lines 5, 6 : The strong point in the creed is its unanswerable
logic.

Lines 7, 8 : What is Whittier's attitude toward this system
of theology?

Lines 9, 10: Explain. Why "iron" ?

Lines 13, 14: This theology explains the purposes of the
Creator, and his "Plan of Salvation."

Lines 17, 18: See Exodus 3:5. The bare feet symbolized
reverence.

Line 20 : What divine qualities does Whittier emphasize —
regard as measureless? Line 21: What quality did the

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 187

Calvinists place most stress on? Line 23: They seek one to
give them laws and commandments; the Quaker poet desires
only healing of spirit. Matthew 9:20; 27:35.

Line 25: See Genesis 3:16-19. For line 27 see Matthew
5 : 3-11 ; for line 28 see Luke 23 : 24.

Line 29: Does Whittier regard himself as undeserving of
eternal punishment? Line 36: He has no " claim" through
merit on divine mercy. Line 37: Whittier is not trying to
pretend that there is no sin in this world. Line 42: Explain
the figure. Line 44: To what divine attribute does Whittier
fasten his hope?

Line 45: See Isaiah 6:1-5. Line 47: Since love is the best
feeling that can possibly enter the human heart, hate is the
worst. How, then, can a Divine Being cherish the hate that
Edwards describes in his sermon? Line 49: The sin of hate.

Line 55: See Psalms 19:10.

Line 57: Whittier holds his faith in the midst of sorrow
and affliction; and (lines 61-64) in spite of any trouble that
may come into his life. •

Line 65: No trouble will come to him that he will not be
given strength to bear. Isaiah 42 : 3.

Line 69: "I have no merit." Line 71: "Even what I do
for others is simply transferring a gift He has given me."

Line 73-80: Do not miss the point of this beautiful
metaphor.

Line 81 : See Line 1. His belief differs greatly from theirs.

Line 88: His is a religion of the heart, not of the head.

III. Read the poem aloud.

SNOW-BOUND

I. Snow-Bound is a poem of rural New England in winter.
It describes a heavy snow-storm and the appearance of the

188 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

world during and after it. It tells of the members of the
snow-bound household, and describes their amusements.
It is written "To the Memory" of this household, and tells
chiefly of those who have gone. Whittier's brother Matthew,
therefore, is not especially prominent in the poem, being alive
at the time of writing. The poem is largely descriptive —
"pictures of old days" (line 747). Read the poem thought
fully, for its general plan and effect.

II. Why is the poem called "A Winter Idyl" ? How long
did the storm last (lines 31, 41, 42, 46, 47, 93, 116)? Can you
tell what days of the week were stormy (line 97)? How
long was the family snow-bound (lines 674, 675) ? Pickard de
scribes the family in his Life of Whittier I, 27-36; II, 771.
See Whittier-land 12, 24, 39, 74. Show how the quotations
from Cornelius Agrippa and Emerson make an appropriate
preface for the poem. Find on a map of Massachusetts
the location of Haverhill, where Whittier spent his boy
hood. For the publication of the poem, alterations made in
proof, etc., see Pickard II, 494 to 505.

III. Study the poem carefully with the following notes and
questions. Observe, without special direction, the excellence
of the diction (particularly of the epithets) and the beauty of
the figures.

Lines 1-18: A threatening day, before the breaking of the
storm. Notice the extreme cold; the snow, at such a tempera
ture, will be dry and drift easily. With line 15 compare this
note from Pickard's Life (I, 7) : "The roar of the storm waves
breaking on Salisbury Beach is heard in this secluded valley."

Lines 19-30: A realistic account of life on a farm. Ex
plain early (line 27). What metaphor in helmet and chal
lenge? The barn is described in Pickard I, 18.

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER

189

Lines 31-40: The beginning of the storm. What are
the snow-flakes compared to in the metaphor involved in
swarm, whirl-dance, winged?

Lines 43-46 refer to the shapes of snow-flakes. Have
you ever seen any under the microscope? Starry is "star-

:.,-^^^r^'«W

A Well, Showing the Curb and the Well-sweep

shaped," and the word suggests meteor (falling star) in
the next line. Wonder (line 50) is "strange thing." What
colors are in the picture described by lines 50-54? Line 60 :
See Pickard I, 16. Line 62 : Draw the shape of a Chinese
roof. See Pickard, II, 499. Line 65: The white marble
Leaning Tower of Pisa is one of the wonders of architecture.
Imagine the well-sweep, snow covered, as leaning over the
well-curb.

190 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Line 66 : What sort of man was Whittier's father? Line 70 :
What are buskins? Lines 77-80: You can read of Aladdin's
cave and lamp in The Arabian Nights. Line 86: What
figure in harem? Line 89: Amun was an Egyptian god
with the head of a ram.

Line 97: What day of the week is it? Line 98: Explain
social. See Pickard, Life, I, 6. Lines 101-105. Notice
the effect of the diction and figure; could any expression be
more dreary? Line 110: Minded means " noticed." What
figure in lines 112, 113? What excuse in the next lines for
the personification?

Line 118: Note the metaphor. Lines 122-128: Study the
diction. For a complete word-picture of the kitchen see
lines 129-131, 163-174. Study this very carefully, word by
word; and study with it the photograph of the kitchen. See
Pickard, Life, I, 19, 20. The world outside is described in
lines 143-154. It is a picture in black and white. Study it
carefully; if possible, sketch the landscape. Lines 132-142
describe the reflection of the kitchen in its window. Imagine
the scene described in lines 143-154 as the general background
of the picture. In the center of that, place the dark lilac-tree.
Against that, imagine the red reflection of the fire. Showed
means " could be seen." The children imagine that witches
are making tea about this mimic flame. Have you ever seen
so plain a reflection of a room as that described here?

Line 179: The poet leaves the memories of his youth and
comes back to the moment of writing the poem, when he is a
man of fifty-eight. Line 183: Matthew Whittier died in
1883; the poem was written in 1865. Line 204: The "stars"
of hope. Cypress trees are planted on graves. The hope
is named in lines 200-202. Line 206 : The day of resurrection.
Line 209: Faith is an instinct, higher than the knowledge

THE WHITTIER BIRTHPLACE

THE WHITTIER KITCHEN

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 191

gained by sense or reason. Line 210: Life will, in the end,
triumph over death, and our "own" will be restored to us.
This expression of grief and hope is one of the eloquent pas
sages of the poem.

Line 212: Sped means "made it go fast." Notice the
simple home-amusements. 214: The name of the "school-
book" was The American Preceptor (see Pickard, I, 39, 40);
and the poem was Mrs. Morton's The African Chief. In those
days of few books, children knew their readers by heart.
Lines 220-223 are quoted from this poem. Life, liberty, and
the pursuit of happiness are, to an American, three of the
first and natural, as well as the inalienable, rights. Lines 216-
219 refer to Whittier's intense interest in the Anti-slavery
cause. The Abolitionists complained that Congress favored
the slave states (line 217). Telling puzzles and riddles, and
"speaking pieces" was the entertainment furnished by the
children, perhaps by the boys, since they are not otherwise
mentioned.

Line 224: The father tells stories of his youthful days.
He had made trips to Canada, riding on horse-back along
Lake Memphremagog (see map) . He had visited St. Frangois
in the province of Quebec, whither the French settlers had
brought their old customs and costumes from Normandy.
"Idyllic ease" (line 228) — the sort one reads of in old idyls,
or pastoral poems. Line 236: Some of the father's stories
were about home life. How wide are the sea-marshes at
Salisbury Beach? What do we mean by "a bee-line"?
From these salt marshes the farmers gathered hay (line 251).
They seem to have made of the haying season a holiday;
they picnicked on the beach, and, as they drifted home on
the great boat-loads of hay, told tales of witchcraft and the
supernatural.

192 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Line 256: The mother was never idle. As she spun or
knitted, she told of the "narrow escape of her ancestors,"
who lived "in the Indian-haunted region" of southern New
Hampshire. Find Cocheco and the Piscataqua on the map.
Was she a good story-teller (lines 262-265)? The "Gray
Wizard" was Bantam the sorcerer, and his "book," which
he opened and consulted when asked to "conjure," was Cor
nelius Agrippa's Occult Philosophy, from which Whittier
quotes to preface his poem. Do you think Mrs. Whittier
loved nature? Line 286: Sewel wrote a "painful" history
of the persecutions and martyrdoms among the early Qua
kers. See Pickard II, 500. Line 289: Chalkley was a sea-
captain, and a very pious man. His adventure belonged, of
course, to the day of sailing-vessels. Becalmed crews and
castaways were sometimes obliged to eat one of their own
number. Line 306: See Genesis 22.

Line 307: Whittier's Uncle Moses lived with them at
the old home. See Pickard's Life I, 32, 33. His mind and
character are clearly described here. Had he been much
at school? What did he know? Lyceum means "school;"
Aristotle taught his disciples in the lyceum, or gymnasium.
The French and the Germans call a certain kind of school
a "lycee" and a " gymnasium." Lines 311-316: Do you
know any out-of-door weather signs? Will the weather
be fair or rainy if you see spider-webs on the grass in the
morning? Line 320: Apollonius could converse with birds.
Line 322: "Hermes Trismegistus," Greek name for Egyptian
Dhouth, or Thouth, a theologian-philosopher-magician.
See Longfellow's poem to him, and Milton's "thrice great
Hermes" (II Penseroso, line 88), where "thrice great" is a
translation of the name "Trismegistus." Lines 325ff.: The
uncle was not a traveller; hence the region about Haverhill

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 193

seemed to him the center of the universe. Gilbert White
(1720-1793) wrote The Natural History of Selborne, Selborne
being a parish in south England. Being intensely interested
in the locality, he magnified greatly the charms of the county
of Surrey (lines 333ff .) . What did the uncle tell stories about?
Was he a good story-teller?

L'iae 350: For Whittier's "Aunt Mercy" see Pickard's
Life I, 33. What character did she develop (line 360) ? What
stories did she tell? Do not miss the fine metaphor in " home
spun warp" and "golden woof-thread" (lines 368-371). Ex
plain the beautiful figure in which Whittier tells us that his
aunt was always young at heart. Lines 376, 377: "Who
thinks, not of her lovely character, but, in a slighting manner,
of her lonely lot."

Line 378 : The older sister, like the mother, must be busy.
What was her character? Pickard's Life I, 29. Do you judge
that she had an easy life? She died five years before this
poem was written. Notice the metaphor in lines 390, 391.

Lines 392ff. : Elizabeth, Whittier's younger sister, was his
housekeeper and life-companion. She died a year before the
poem was written. Her poems are sometimes printed with
her brother's. Pickard's Life I, 29-31 ; II, 481, 482; Whittier-
land, 74. How much he missed her, lines 418-421 tell us.
From line 423 to line 427 the diction is governed by a meta
phor comparing his memory of her to wealth. Find the words
that belong to this metaphor; do not overlook the expression
"in trust." Lines 428-437: Follow carefully the metaphor
comparing the close of life to the close of day. Read Whit-
tier's poems To my Sister and The Last Eve of Summer.

Line 438: For the schoolmaster, see Pickard, Life I, 33, 41.
He was George Haskell, from Waterford, Maine. What does
the poem tell of his life and character? What do you know of

194 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the early custom of " boarding-round"? Explain lines 470-
479. Arachthus was a Greek river that rose in the Pindus
Mountains; Olympus was the mountain of the gods.

Lines 481-484: Explain. Lines 485ff.: Whittier thinks
that the South should have, after the Civil War (1865), a
number of young men like the schoolmaster as immigrants
from the North, who might encourage education and the na
tional spirit, and organize industry. They would " recon
struct" not only legally but also socially. Explain the allu
sions and figures. What was the history of reconstruction
after the Civil War? If such Northerners as this young man
had gone South in 1865, might conditions have been differ
ent? Line 495: To the Quaker poet, war was murder.

Line 510: For an account of Miss Harriet Livermore, see
Pickard, Life I, 35 ; Whittier-land, 30. She was the daughter
of a Judge and Member of Congress, and had spent much
time with her father in Washington, hence her "cultured
phrase. " "She was equally ready/' says Whittier, "to exhort
in schoolhouse prayer-meetings and to dance in a Washington
ball-room." In lines 510-545 Whittier brings out the strange
mingling in her nature of "the vixen and the devotee."
Kate (line 536), in Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew,
was a lady of very bad temper, who was subdued by her hus
band, Petruchio. Saint Catherine of Sienna (1348-1380) was
a noted mystic.

Lines 446-562: Miss Livermore became interested in the
doctrine of the Second Advent, and crossed the Atlantic with
the message of the Lord's "quick coming." She travelled
over a large part of Europe and Asia, and, at the time Snow-
Bound was written, was living with a tribe of Arabs, who
accepted her as a prophetess, believing that insanity was
divine inspiration. The "Queen of Lebanon" was Lady

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 195

Hester Stanhope, with whom Miss Livermore quarrelled
concerning their relative importance in the kingdom to be
established by the Lord. Lady Hester expected to ride with
the Lord into Jerusalem, on a white horse with saddle-mark
ings of red.

Lines 563-569: Whittier expresses his sympathy for this
poor, ill-balanced soul. We cannot tell how much of her un
fortunate disposition was due to heredity; we cannot tell
how much was will and how much fate; which of her faults
she was morally responsible for, and which she was not.
With this thought in mind, explain the passage, word by
word. For "the fatal sisters" refer to your mythology.
With lines 585ff. compare Psalms 103: 14.

Line 592: Describe a "bull's-eye watch." Line 601:
Why were they so careful to keep the fire? With "wishes"
(line 608) connect lines 612, 613. What does the paren
thesis tell you of the mother's practical charity? Compare
her with the elder sister (line 383).

Lines 614-628: Observe particularly the harmony between
sound and thought. The last four lines are very melodious;
why is this appropriate? What devices are used to produce
melody? For the exposed chamber of the boys, see Pickard
I, 43.

Lines 629ff. : Breaking the roads. See Pickard II, 495.

Lines 657fL: "Once more" relates back to line 630; line
658 refers to line 631. For the doctor see Pickard, Life I, 38.
Why had the doctor a right to be autocratic (lines 662, 663)?
Line 666 refers to the doctor and Mrs. Whittier. He was an
orthodox New England Calvinist, professing to believe the
hard, iron creed of that sect. (See The Eternal Goodness.)
She was a Quaker, very liberal in judgment and creed, be
lieving that every person is, or may be, directed by an

196 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

"inward light." Explain the figure involved in mail; in
acid and pearl. The "election of the saints" is a prominent
article in the Calvinistic creed.

Lines 676ff.: For the books in the Whittier library, see
Pickard, Life I, 42 to 46. How many were there (line 678)?
Probably the Almanac was that of Poor Richard — better
reading than the modern pamphlet called an "almanac."
Their one book of poetry was by an early Quaker, Thomas
Elwood, a young friend of Milton. The name of his epic was
Davideis. Do you think it was good poetry (lines 683-685)?
For the nine heathen muses, see your mythology. The
splendid poetry of the classic languages was supposed to be
inspired by them. Explain the figures in lines 689-692. The
Creeks were an Indian tribe, then on the war-path. Mc
Gregor was a Scotchman who tried unsuccessfully to found a
settlement in Costa Rica. General Ypsilanti was a leader in
the Greek uprising against the rule of the Turks. Another
Greek hero of this period was Marco Bozzaris, subject of
Halleck's poem. Taygetos is a mountain in Greece. Do you
think these Greeks made very civilized warfare? Besides this
news from all the comers of the earth, the paper contained
(lines 700ff.) local news, advertisements, and contributions.
"Vendue" sales are auctions. "Goods at cost" are bargain
sales. Line 711: What figure in embargo? The poem proper
ends with line 714, when the family is no longer snow
bound. The remaining lines form a conclusion.

Line 715: Apostrophe to the Angel of Memory; observe
the description of the angel. Many of the fine books of
ancient times had brazen covers with clasps. Explain the
significance of palimpsest here. Characters means "letters"
Line 725 refers to the deaths in the household. Explain
vistaed. The cypress and the amaranth are funeral tokens,

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 197

often planted on graves. Lines 730, 731: Explain by de
scribing the hour-glass. Lines 732, 733: Each hour of life
has its insistent duty. Line 734 relates to lines 715, 718.
Line 735: The voice of Duty, calling him from dreams of
the past to the duties of the present. Line 739: Whittier
believed that our liberties, imperfect the first century of our
national existence because of the presence of slavery in our
country, reached perfection with its abolition. See the date
of poem. This paragraph of the conclusion calls the mind of
the poet back from his dream of the past.

Line 740: This paragraph justifies the dream by showing
its value to several classes of persons — the "worldling," or
man of business, " early friends," and strangers. In line 740
life is conceived as a warfare; times of rest would then be
truces. The Truce of God was instituted by the Church in
the days when secular governments were not strong enough
to enforce law and order; the Church ordered men to abstain
from fighting on certain days. Flemish pictures were realistic
representations of common life; they sometimes show a
Dutch kitchen as faithfully as Whittier has, in words, pic
tured a New England kitchen. Line 751 refers to expres
sions of appreciation by strangers, not even known to the
poet by name. Explain the two beautiful similes which
show a poet's gratification at such expressions of appreciation,
and which close the poem (lines 752-759).

IV. Make some study of the versification and melody of
the poem, especially of the most eloquent passages.

V. To gather up the thought of the poem in a few sen
tences, so that it shall impress us by its unity : Snow-Bound
makes us acquainted with winter-life in the family of a poor
New England farmer in the early nineteenth century (Whit
tier was born in 1807). The poem lies altogether in the

198 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

time and in the scene of the writer's boyhood, except for the
following passages: —

Lines 175-210 express the poet's loneliness in 1865, as one
of the two survivors of his family.

Lines 422-437 tell of his grief for the sister who had died
a year before the poem was written.

Lines 485-509 give the poet's solution of the problem of
reconstruction.

Lines 563-589 show Whittier's charity for an ill-balanced
disposition.

Lines 715-759 form the conclusion.

Judging from Whittier's allusions, do you not think he was
remarkably well-read for one who had so few early advan
tages? Does this poem give any hints as to the sources of
his culture?

THE LAST WALK IN AUTUMN

I. Whittier's theme is praise of his native climate -
rugged, cold New England — in its bleakest season. Read
the poem through with this outline:

1. Description of two late autumn New England days,

a year apart: stanzas I-IV; (a) the day on which
the "last walk" is taken, (b) the same day a year
before.

2. The year's round: stanzas V, VI.

3. There is as much beauty at home as there is abroad:

stanzas, VII-IX.

4. One may travel in imagination while remaining at

home: stanzas X, XI.

5. There is as good company at home as abroad, books

and men: stanzas XII-XVI.

6. Home is full of loving memories: stanzas XVII-XVIII.

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 199

7. There is greater inspiration to energy in a rugged

climate than in a warm country: stanzas XIX— XX.

8. There is fuller liberty in New England than in other

lands: stanzas XXI, XXII.

9. The practical virtues belong to the temperate lands:

stanzas XXIII-XXIV.

10. The pleasures of winter: stanza XXV.

11. Trust expressed that the One who cares for nature will

care for the poet: stanza XXVI; and for the cause
in which he is interested: stanza XXVII.

12. Envoy: stanza XXVIII.

Describe the stanza, rime, and meter of the poem. What
effect have the longer lines at the end of each stanza?

II. Study the poem carefully with the following notes and
questions.

Line 1: What figure? Compare " plead" (line 2) and
"praying" (line 6). What is the prayer of the trees?

Line 8: Does Whittier show appreciation of the beauties
of nature in winter? Is the picture of autumn in stanzas
I-III accurate? About what date is this? Study the adjec
tives. Explain the figures in lines 12 and 20. Note the
comparison in line 17.

Line 25: Compare the two autumn days, just a year apart.
Which would better be described by Bryant's "The mel
ancholy days have come"?

Line 34: With "pagoda" compare Snow-Bound line 62.

Line 42: Whittier seems to have enjoyed sunrise and
sunset; see The Huskers. With "moonlit snows" compare
Snow-Bound lines 142ff . Study carefully the diction belong
ing to the description of each season in stanzas V, VI. Is
it appropriate?

Line 49: Observe the coherence between stanzas V-VI

200 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

and stanzas VII-VIII (lines 49, 50 make the transition).
At this season many of Whittier's friends would be going to
a warm climate for the winter. His thoughts follow them.
But Whittier was not, except in reading and imagination, a
traveller. Line 51: The ardent beauty of the sun in the
desert. Line 52: The " Alpine glow." Line 55: The Arno
is a river of Northern Italy; Florence is the chief city on it.
Line 56: The Alhambra is a magnificent Moorish ruin in
Spain.

Line 58: "Is equal to him." Explain the figure in lines
57, 58. Lines 60 to 64 use the diction of Mohammedan lands;
explain the figures. Line 66 : Pharpar is a river of Damascus
praised by Naaman (II Kings 5:12). Line 69: The Taj-
Mahal ("Gem of Buildings") is a celebrated marble mau
soleum. Line 71 : Hafiz (14th century) wrote a poem about
a Persian Rose-garden. Line 72: St Peter's Cathedral at
Rome. Line 73: Explain thus. Line 75: Though Whittier
lived most of his life in one place, he has seen the universe
(Kosmos). Line 81: Explain thus. Through the exercise
of what faculty does the untravelled poet visit other
lands (line 85)? For line 86 see Acts 12, and notice prison
(line 83) and freedom-giving (line 85). Is Whittier right?
Did he undervalue travel because he had not travelled?
Probably his ill-health accounted partly for his remaining
at home, since his interests were broad. In a letter to Bayard
Taylor, he says: "I travel a great deal, however, by proxy.
I have had thee in my service for many years, much to my
satisfaction. Dr. Booth has been to Timbuctoo for me, and
Burton to Mecca. Atkinson has been doing Siberia for me.
I think (if thy Marie does not object) of sending thee off
again to find Xanadu and Kubla Khan." (Pickard, Life II,
429. See also II, 469 and Whittier's poem to Bayard Taylor.)

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 201

Other men, who have travelled, have expressed themselves
as Whittier has done in the stanzas we are studying. In a
letter to his grandson, apropos of a disappointment about a
trip to Europe, Lowell writes: "After all, the kind of world
one carries about in one's self is the important thing, and
the world outside takes all its grace, color, and value from

that." See Lowell's An Invitation, Whittier's To ,

and Our River, Emerson's Written in Naples, Holmes's After
a Lecture on Wordsworth. Emerson's Journal (at Naples,
1834) says: "This moment, this vision, I might have had in
my own closet in Boston." See also Carpenter's Whittier, 86.

Line 89: Whittier enjoys the company of his books. Who
are "the masters of the ancient lyre"? Bacon was the
English philosopher and essayist of the early seventeenth
century. Pascal was a French philosopher of the seventeenth
century. Explain line 96. Some persons object that dead
authors are not as satisfactory as living friends. Explain lines
99, 100. Herbs are simple food (see Proverbs 15:17); am
brosia is the food of the gods. "Laurelled shades" are the
ghosts of those crowned with laurel because of their poetic
gifts. Line 104: Whittier enjoys friends as well as books.

Line 105: Stanza XIV refers to Emerson, whose nature
was a strange combination of Yankee shrewdness and Oriental
mysticism. As a philosopher, he would have been a fit
companion of the old Greek Plato. Notice the contradiction
in "shrewd mystic." "Poor Richard's Almanac," compiled
by Benjamin Franklin, is a book of practical common-
sense, is shrewd. The Sufi was a monarch of a Persian
dynasty; see Emerson's Saadi, a mystic poem. Emerson's
Brahma (the Gentoo's, or Hindoo's, dream) is also a mystic
poem. Manu was a Hindoo deified king, lawgiver, and
philosopher. Fulton was the inventor of the steamboat.

202 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Eastern lands are famous for their metaphysical thought;
the western world for practical invention and application.

Line 113: This stanza refers to Bayard Taylor and his
poems of travel. Prince Houssain, in The Arabian Nights, sat
on a "wishing carpet," and was transported by magic where-
ever he wished to be. Phrygia is in Asia Minor; Nubia is
in North Africa.

Line 121 : This stanza refers to Charles Sumner, interested,
like Whittier, in the anti-slavery cause, and its champion
in the Senate of the United States. He was attacked in 1856
by Preston Brooks on the floor of the Senate, and so badly
injured that he was long an invalid. Aristides the Just was
an Athenian general of the 5th century B. C. Find his
story in your Greek History. What kind of statesman was
Sumner? What reference here to his education and culture?
Explain lines 122, 123, 124.

Line 132: " Treasure" —compare the figure with that
in Snow-Bound, lines 423^427. " Conscious" —compare
Snow-Bound, line 199. Notice the return to the autumn
landscape in lines 133 to 136. Explain " shadowy."

Line 139 : Whittier felt the keen winter air of New England
bitterly. Explain line 140. Ceylon is a tropic island in the
Indian Ocean. Line 148: The "Bear" is the constellation
containing the Little Dipper, one of whose stars is the North
Star. The "Cross" is the constellation that is related to the
South Pole as the Bear is to the North. It is visible south
of the Equator. Whittier thinks of the Cross as shining on
tropic lands. The same contrast between the summer lands
and cold climates is expressed in lines 149, 150, and 151-152.
The "Line" is the Equator.

Line 153: Explain the figures in this stanza. Memorize
the stanza. What climate does it praise? Why?

JOHN GREENLEAF WHITTIER 203

Line 162: Versailles was ihe magnificent home of French
kings; Windsor is the palace of English monarchs. What
does Whittier compare favorably with these splendid build
ings? Why? Line 165: The simple village church. Line 166:
Some of the finest cathedrals are of the Gothic style of archi
tecture. Line 168: St. Peter's Cathedral at Rome. There
is a beautiful Gothic cathedral at Milan.

Line 169: " Equal" -where the children are regarded
as belonging to the same social class. Lines 171, 172: In
countries where there is an established church, the schools
teach its doctrines, as do the parochial schools established
by certain sects in our country. Lines 173-176: He com
pares our Thanksgiving favorably with the Carnival, or
Mardi Gras/that some countries celebrate just before Lent.
That is a gay festival, when a great deal of license is permitted
on the city streets. The revellers usually go masked. The
"chains" are mental and religious. Whittier was earnestly
grateful for our liberty of education and conscience. Show
why the metaphor in line 174 is particularly good in connec
tion with Thanksgiving customs.

Line 179 : Arcadia was a Greek state in the Peloponnesus,
isolated from the rest of the country by surrounding moun
tains. The rustic, simple life of the Arcadians, far removed
from the strifes and worldly anxieties of their neighbors, has
given the name " Arcadian" the notion of pastoral simplicity
and happiness. Line 181: New England has no canonized
saints. Whittier prefers ordinary men and women, with
characters of mingled strength and weakness. Line 185:
What are some of the practical, social virtues he sees in the
men and women about him? Were these social virtues
valued and cherished by the saints and hermits of the Middle
Ages? Line 188: Explain the metaphor. Line 190: Ex-

204 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

plain this, referring to Exodus 3 : 5. Doing one's duty puts
one in touch with the divine.

Line 191 : There were no slaves in New England in 1856,
when this poem was written.

Line 194: Trumpets were used by heralds to announce
guests; explain the metaphor. Line 196: See line 4. Lines
197ff. speak of winter pleasures in New England.

Lines 201-204: Explain this reference to Nature. Line
208: Explain the figure.

Lines 209-212: Whittier refers to his anti-slavery work.
This poem was written in 1856, and the slaves were not freed
till 1863.

Line 218: Whittier had written many poems less artistic
than this. Line 222: He had many enemies because of his
anti-slavery work. Line 224: He was a good Quaker; while
he hated the sin, he loved the sinner, and never felt personal
enmity — although he did sometimes feel a righteous indig
nation against the unjust.

III. Study the poem carefully for melody and harmony.

IV. Read the poem aloud. Express clearly Whittier's
thought and his love for his home.

CHAPTER XVI
JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life, 2 Vol., by Horace Scudder; Boston, 1901.
Letters, 2 Vol., by Chas. Eliot Norton; New York, 1894.
Life, by Ferris Greenslet; Boston, 1905.
Life, by F. H. Underwood; Boston, 1893.
Life, by E. E. Brown; Boston, 1887.

James Russell Lowell and His Friends, by Edward Everett Hale;
Boston, 1899.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

The Beggar, The Fatherland, The Fountain, The Heritage, Longing,
Without and Within, Sonnets 4, 6, 17, 24, 25; For an Autograph,
Aladdin, The Parting of the Ways, Masaccio, In the Twilight, To a
Pine Tree, Beaver Brook, Al Fresco, The Sower, Yussouf .

An Indian Summer Reverie, Pictures from Appledore.

Bibliolatres, Extreme Unction, Si Descendero in Infernum, The
Cathedral.

Poems of the War, Three Memorial Poems, Columbus.

A Good Word for Winter. (Critical essays should be studied in con
nection with the authors they discuss.)

See also Appendix I, titles 68 to 75 inclusive.

THE SINGING LEAVES

I. Read the poem for its story and general impression.

II. Why is this poem called a ballad? The real folk-
ballads of our race have come down to us from the Middle
Ages. Many modern poets also have written ballads, and

205

206 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

some who know and love the old folk-poems have tried to
imitate their style. Lowell here imitates in many ways
the mediaeval English and Scotch ballads. If you can read a
few of them as a background for this poem, you will better
appreciate Lowell's effort. Our American poet has chosen
his characters from a social organization we have outgrown;
they are a King and three Princesses, and a page. The king
gives a blind promise, which he cannot in honor break — a
motif used in many a mediaeval tale. The trading was done
at a fair, an old custom that still survives in some quaint
European towns. Much of Lowell's phrasing, and the great
number of archaic words help to revive the atmosphere of
the ancient ballads. Some of his peculiar phrases are ballad
conventions. Three was a favorite ballad number. The
articles demanded by the older sisters were popular mediaeval
adornments. The heroine of an old story is often a good
young girl, despised and scorned by her older sisters. (Com
pare Cinderella.)

Make a study of the archaic and figurative phrasing of the
poem. If you are somewhat familiar with the old ballads,
you will find that some of the expressions in your lists are
common, conventional ballad-phrases.

The rhythmic movement also recalls the ballad measure,
the fundamental pattern being 4xa, 3xa, 4xa, 3xa, with the
rime-plan abcb.

III. Do you think Lowell means any more by this poem
than the pretty story itself? Has he a moral thought?
What is " Vanity Fair "? Do the " Singing Leaves " stand for
something more precious than gold and silks and jewels?
Why could not the King find them at Vanity Fair? This
spiritual interpretation of the story belongs to Lowell's style
and not to the ballad convention.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 207

IV. Tell the story of The Singing Leaves. Try to re
produce Lowell's quaint, mediaeval atmosphere, by bringing
in such of his archaic words and expressions as you can use
naturally. Use also such of Lowell's figures as you consider
particularly appropriate and significant in a poem of this sort.
Suggest the moral thought delicately, as Lowell has done; do
not make it obtrusive.

THE SHEPHERD OF KING ADMETUS

I. This poem may, at first reading, seem to confuse music
and poetry, but reference to an old custom makes it clear.
Before the invention of printing made books current, poets
were obliged to chant their works to such audiences as they
could gather about them, often accompanying their " sing
ing" by striking notes on some musical instrument, as the
harp or the lyre. Sometimes men who could not com
pose sang the works of the more gifted " makers." Alma
Tadema's painting called Reading from Homer depicts such
a scene. The best poets were naturally employed at the
courts of kings. Because of this old custom, poets have
often been called " singers."

Study in classic mythology the story of the god Apollo
at the court of King Admetus. The first four stanzas of this
poem tell the same story. What instrument did Apollo
use? How did his music affect his hearers? Was King
Admetus a good judge of music? How did he reward the
poet?

II. Why did men call the poet " shiftless" (lines 3 and 4)?
Had he influence over them in spite of their scorn? Describe
the songs of the poet (lines 16-20). What were his sub
jects (lines 27-32)? Do you know any poem of Lowell's
addressed to a "Dear common flower"? It was the very

208 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

commonness of the dandelion, the weed, that taught Lowell a
beautiful lesson. With lines 31, 32 compare Shakespeare's
" tongues in trees, books in the running brooks, and good in
everything." (As You Like It II, 1.) Explain also Apollo's
relation to ancient medical science. Explain stanza 9, com
paring it with stanza 6.

After the poet was gone, and almost forgotten as a per
sonality, the beautiful things he had taught men about
" weeds and stones and springs" remained in their hearts,
and made the earth more lovely and wonderful. And those
who came after him and had enough poetry in their souls to
sympathize with him finally understood the divine character
of his work.

III. This poem is intended to help us appreciate the great
and sacred work that poetry, music, and art perform for
human society. Does Lowell represent art as a source of
pleasure, merely? What significance is there in making a god
the founder of an art?

Scudder (I, 147) says of the period of Lowell's life in
which King Admetus was written: "We do find, recurring
in various forms, a recognition of an all-embracing, all-
penetrating power which through the poet transmutes nature
into something finer and more eternal, and gives him a
vantage ground from which to perceive more truly the real
ities of life. The Token, An Incident in a Railroad Car} The
Shepherd of King Admetus all in a manner witness to this,
and show how persistently in Lowell's mind was present this
aspect of the poet which makes him a seer."

In one of his essays Lowell says, "To make the common
marvellous is the test of genius." Discuss this statement,
and read with it Emerson's poem named Art. Put with
them these lines from Browning's Fra Lippo Lippi: —

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 209

We're so made that we love

First when we see them painted, things we have passed
Perhaps a hundred times nor cared to see;
And so they are better, painted — better to us,
Which is the same thing. Art was given for that;
God uses us to help each other so,
Lending our minds out.

With this poem compare Bryant's The Poet, and Whit
man's When the Full-grown Poet Comes, and Holmes's notion
(see The Chambered Nautilus) that every material thing can
be used as an illustration of some spiritual truth.

AN INCIDENT IN A RAILROAD CAR

I. Lowell has required only five stanzas to relate his in
cident and tell what lesson it taught him. Relate the incident
(stanzas 1-3). Tell the effect of the scene on the observer
(stanza 4) and on the actors (stanza 5) . The remainder of the
poem sets forth Lowell's theory that the elements of poetry
exist in every human heart, however crude, in some primitive
form; the poet is only the man who, feeling more deeply,
thinking more clearly, is able to formulate and express the
universal emotion.

II. Study the poem in detail, consulting the following
notes and questions :

Line 4 : Explain the metaphor.

Lines 6, 7: Explain the metaphor. In spite of his gifts,
Burns always remained one of the " common people," and
wrote chiefly of the joys and sorrows of the poor.

Lines 13-20: Explain.

Lines 18: What is the object of " above"?

Lines 21-36: Follow the metaphor comparing the higher
impulses of the human heart to seeds that grow up

210 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

and produce blossoms; i. e. inspiring words and noble
deeds.

Lines 37-56: The great poet Wordsworth, too, thought
that the " elementary feelings" are more easily found among
simple folk than among the great and learned. Another
Great Teacher, who lived chiefly among the poor and humble,
has admonished us to remain simple-hearted, like little
children (see Matthew 18: 3; 19:14).

Lines 47, 48 : Explain the metaphor.

Line 51: Win means "climb up," "win their way."

Lines 55, 56 : Explain the metaphor.

Lines 57-60: All thought, Lowell says, is founded on the
"great mass" of feeling, in which its origin is hidden. When
the feeling of the race "narrows up" to the thought of the
few more cultivated souls, what form may it, in metaphor,
be said to take?

Lines 61-64: Where does human thought and feeling have
its origin?

Lines 65-68: What does the poet do for the race? Espe
cially for what class?

Lines 69-72: Compare lines 13-20.

Lines 73-76: Lowell here has in mind difficult poets, such
as Milton, who knew he was writing for "fit audience, though
few;" the "grand old masters," the "bards sublime."
(Longfellow: The Day Is Done.)

Lines 77-88: Lowell thinks that the "humbler poet," not
too difficult for the simple heart to understand, reaches better
the great mass of men, untrained to grasp the more complex
thought of the great master. Line 81 relates back to line 77.

III. Read six of Burns's poems. Notice how easy they
are to understand; how simply they express feelings common
to all men, rich and poor, learned and ignorant. Then read

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 211

Lowell's Incident once more, and see how much clearer to you
it is. The following are good poems to choose from Burns : —
My Heart is in the Highlands, John Anderson, My Jo, Auld
Lang Syne, Is there for Honest Poverty, A Red, Red Rose,
The Cotter's Saturday Night.

RHCECUS

I. On first reading the poem, you will see that lines 1-35
form a prelude to the old classic tale related in 36-160. It
will be best for you to give your attention first to the story
part, and come back later to the prelude.

Lowell usually tells his story in such a way as to suggest a
moral thought. Read again this " fairy legend of old Greece,"
to see what practical thought for life Lowell makes it yield
you. You will need to give special attention to lines 129-140,
where the Dryad tells the youth how he has offended her.
Though she says something about his unkindness to her mes
senger, the bee, the significant line is 137:

We ever ask an undivided love.

Rhcecus wasted in foolish pleasure the time he should have
given to the Dryad, and he forever lost her. "A lost oppor
tunity is gone forever."

II. Tell the story of Rhoecus as you learn it from Lowell.
You may use any of his fine diction and figures that linger
in your mind after two or three careful readings. Try partic
ularly to use some of the best epithets.

III. Did you ask yourself, when you were studying the
story of Rhcecus, why a man of the nineteenth century should
tell a tale written hundreds of years earlier, especially one
about a Dryad, a creature in whose existence we have long
ceased to believe? Lowell has anticipated such a ques-

212 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

tion and has answered it in the prelude to this poem (lines
1-35).

We are prone to think that our time only, our nation
alone, knows the truth; what does Lowell say in lines 1-5?
Possibly the form of expression each nation and age has used
is best fitted to its own development and cast of mind —
whether the expression be myth, fable, philosophy, or the
ology. Notice the figure in " realm," "rule." Every re
ligion that has gained followers has had some truth in it
(lines 6-12), or earnest men would never, for one moment,
have rested in it. Explain the metaphor in "master-key."
"Down" (line 11) contains the same metaphor we use when
we say "beds of ease." There is a germ of truth in every
myth and fable. Explain the metaphor in "reign" (line 15)
and "right divine" (line 16), referring to the belief of certain
kings in the source of their authority. Lines 18, 19 refer
to an old superstition that a hazel-twig will point down
ward when the person that holds it passes over a subterranean
spring. In line 21 Lowell goes back to the figure he began
with "germ" (line 9). The "germ" is the principle of life
in the seed, the "hull" the outside protection; the story
is the hull, the truth it contains is the germ. "Inspirations"
(line 26) are artistic expressions — art, poetry, sculpture, etc.
The "food" (line 28) comes from the "germ;" the "hull,"
or mere expression, is the artistic form in which the truth
is current among mankind. Explain the figure in line 27.

The figures are so crowded and press so closely on the heels
of one another in this prelude that they seem almost con
fused; but it is not hard for you to see that Lowell tells this
story, which we cannot literally believe, because, as he
explains, it contains a truth for all time and all men. The
story itself is worth telling for its grace and beauty — which

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 213

equal the eternal grace and beauty of a Greek sculptured
figure.

If one should feel doubtful about the moral teaching of this
poem, he should consult the Greek original. The old story lacks
the spirituality of Lowell's adaptation, but Rhcecus is plainly pun
ished for his neglect of the Dryad, not for his unkindness to the bee.
Of course so short a poem could teach only one lesson without los
ing in unity of effect. Possibly the words that reprove Rhcecus
for bruising the bee distract the mind from the real fault of the
neglectful youth; at least some students have regarded them as
teaching the main lesson of the poem. Gentle (eyes) does not here
mean "tender," but rather "noble;" and a man of good breed
ing would never, under any circumstances, fail in the courtesy to
women demanded by the conventions of his time and country.
And with this poem compare The Hamadryad of Walter Savage
Landor.

To THE DANDELION

I. When we see a bed of dandelions, we are struck, not
by the shape of the flowers, but by the mass of warm, rich,
golden color. So was the poet Lowell. The color of the
flower is the basis of expression in the first, second, third,
and sixth stanzas of To the Dandelion; the poet's association
of the flower with memories of his childhood is the basis of
thought in the fourth and fifth.

II. There is so much figurative language in the poem that
the explanation of thought required the analysis of the figures.

Stanza 1. The color of the flower naturally suggests gold.
The fact that the flower is found in great beds reminds the
poet of the time when the European, especially the Spanish,
explorers expected to find gold in unlimited quantities in
America. This association of gold in great quantities with
the early history of America forms the basis for the meta-

214 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

phors for this stanza. The children, joyfully picking and ex
hibiting the blossoms, are " buccaneers," and the dandelion
bed is an " Eldorado." Explain the stanza now in detail.

Stanza 2. The gold of the dandelion, however, is not like
the gold of Eldorado; it is " harmless." Think of all the evil
the Spaniards did to the natives of the New World, and of
al-1 they themselves suffered; the gold for which they sought
was not harmless. Neither is the gold of the old miser harm
less when it tempts a young girl to forsake for him her youth
ful lover, his rival. The metaphor now changes. Spring
scatters dandelions with lavish hand over the earth, as gener
ous knights and ladies of old threw "largess" (gifts of coin)
to the common people on festal days. Unfortunately, most
persons do not understand the spiritual treasure the common
dandelion offers them, and pass it by with eye unblessed;
as a peasant might have failed to pick up the largess scattered
by the passing nobility beside the road. Go over the stanza
again, and explain it in your own words.

Stanza 3. The warm, rich color of the flower suggests luxu
riant tropic lands. It rouses in the memory and imagination
pictures associated with kinder climates than that of rugged
New England; with far off lands, which the poet has visited
long ago. It calls up a feeling of luxury like that experienced
by the bee in the lily; a luxury like that of Sybaris of old.
Follow the thought of the stanza through again, and explain
it in your own words. Make clear the comparison of the
bee, in metaphor, to the soldiers who conquered Sybaris
("golden-curassed," "tent"), and tell something about the
luxury of Sybaris. What is a sybarite?

Stanza 4. The dandelion, by some power of association,
calls up in the poet's mind a lovely summer landscape, per
haps a picture of the field in which he, as a child, gathered

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 215

the blossoms. Can you sketch the landscape — the trees,
the water, the animals, the light and shade, the colors?
Should any signs of motion be apparent in your picture?
Note the beautiful simile in the last line.

Stanza 5. The dandelion is also associated with the poet's
other memories of springtime in his childhood. Explain par
ticularly "untainted" and " peers.7'

Stanza 6 comes back to the color metaphor in "gold"
and "prodigal." The moral thought attaches itself to the
notion of commonness. Through the profit he gets from his
tenderness for this common flower, so rich in power to touch
the heart and the imagination, the poet learns to feel more
reverence for all human beings. Many of them seem com
monplace when he meets them carelessly, but all of them, if
he gives them the love due from him to every fellow-mortal,
reflect to him something of the divine, as every dandelion
seems to reflect the sun. Human hearts are the " living pages
of God's book;" see II Corinthians 3:2.

III. Study the adjectives and epithets used in the poem.
Are these as strong as its figures in beauty and suggestiveness?

IV. Study the meter, the line, the stanza, and the rime-
plan. What devices do you find for securing melody and
harmony? Give special attention here to the fourth stanza.

V. Read the poem aloud.

THE NIGHTINGALE IN THE STUDY

I. "The Nightingale in the Study was written when he
sought in illness for something that would seclude him from
himself." — Scudder I, 269.

I have not felt in the mood to do much during my imprisonment.
One little poem I have written — The Nightingale in the Study. It is
about Calderon, and I am inclined to think it pretty. JTis a dialogue

216 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

between my cat-bird and me — he calling me out of doors, I giving my
better reasons for staying within. Of course my nightingale is Cald-
eron. * — Letters I, 437 (.July 8, 1867).

For about a week I could read nothing but Calderon — a continual
delight, like walking in a wood where there is a general sameness in the
scenery, and yet a constant vicissitude of light and shade, an endless
variety of growth. He is certainly the most delightful of poets. Such
fertility, such a gilding of the surfaces of things with fancy, or infusion
of them with the more potent fires of the imagination, such lightsome-
ness of humor! Even the tragedies are somehow not tragic to me,
though terrible enough sometimes, for everybody has such a talent for
being consoled, and that out of hand. Life with him is too short and
too uncertain for sorrow to last longer than to the end of the scene, if so
long. As Ate makes her exit, she hands her torch to Hymen, who dances
in brandishing it with an lo! The passions (some of the most un
christian of 'em) are made religious duties, which, once fulfilled, you be
gin life anew with a clear conscience, f

- Letters II, 167.

II. Read the poem carefully, and observe which part of the
"dialogue" belongs to the bird and which to the scholar.

III. Study the poem minutely with the following notes: —
Line 4: Alcina was a fairy in the poems of the Italian

writers, Ariosto and Boiardo. In her garden her guests en
joyed all sorts of delights.

Line 6 : Lesbos and Massico are places in Greece and Italy,
celebrated for excellent wines.

Line 8: "May not my ode be classic?" i. e. as good as the
poems of Greece and Rome.

Line 10: Beaver Brook was a favorite haunt of Lowell's.
It is near Cambridge. See the poem Beaver Brook.

Line 17: Boot means "help."

Line 18: Leaves of books.

* Used by permission of Harper Brothers.

fFrom Correspondence of James Russell Lowell. Copyright, 1893, by
Harper Brothers.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 217

Lines 21, 22: Contrast with line 18.

Line 27: The cuckoo is called the "rain-crow," because its
cries are said to predict rain.

Lines 39, 40: Notice the poet's love for June. Explain the
personification of June, and the meaning of the two lines.

Line 41 : Comparison of the poet Calderon to the bird, as
in the title of the poem. Follow the metaphor through the
remaining stanzas. Calderon was a Spanish dramatist and
poet (1600-1681). Many of his dramas relate to the Moors
in Spain. Tichnor (History of Spanish Literature II, 363)
says: "Nor is the preservation of national or individual char
acter, except perhaps the Moorish, a matter of any more mo
ment in his eyes."

Line 44 : Calderon, in the seventeenth century, must have
fed his imagination on old mediaeval romances.

Line 47: Subjects of Calderon's poems.

Line 48: Dona Clara is the heroine of Calderon's Love Sur
vives Life. Her husband was a Moor.

Lines 49-52: Scenes of which one reads in Calderon.

Line 54 : The character of Calderon's plots.

Lines 55, 56: Refer to the note on line 41, and explain
these lines.

Lines 57, 58: The adventurous nature of Calderon's plots
is referred to.

Lines 59, 60: Explain.

Line 61 : Addressed to the cat-bird.

Line 64: Refer to the note on line 41 for explanation.

Line 65: Still addressed to the cat-bird.

IV. Study meter, stanza, and rime; and devices for secur
ing melody.

V. " The Nightingale in the Study, written in the summer
of 1867, holds in capital form a genuine confession that there

218 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

was an appeal to him from nature in literature, which did not
antagonize the appeal made to him by the world of natural
beauty, yet sometimes constrained and invited him in tones
he could not resist, even though the birds without were calling
him." Scudder II, 115.

This poem shows the scholar, the man of letters, resisting
for love of his books the call of the out-of-doors. It is inter
esting to compare with it Al Fresco (i. e. "In the Open Air"),
which shows the nature-lover triumphant; in which the
scholar throws aside, for a day, his books and studies, and
takes a vacation in his garden and orchard. The two poems
are in harmony with the mood of the prose sketch called My
Garden Acquaintance, in which Lowell tells something of the
grounds about Elmwood and of his friendship with the birds.
Sonnet XXV also is interesting in this connection, as show
ing, in a less playful manner, that Lowell felt there is no real
conflict between the mind of the scholar and the spirit of the
nature-lover.

MY GARDEN ACQUAINTANCE

I. Lowell's home, "Elmwood, "was a large, old-fashioned
New England house, surrounded by extensive lawns and gar
dens. In these grounds Lowell loved to work, being by turns
a student and a horticulturist. (See The Nightingale in the
Study and Al Fresco.) The most delightful literary product
of his gardening is My Garden Acquaintance, a charmingly
familiar essay, rilled with bright humor, genial comment on
life, and a pervading atmosphere of refinement and of easy,
natural scholarship.

II. The introduction runs through five paragraphs. It is
based on a favorite book of Lowell's earlier years. Gilbert
White (1720-1793) lived in the parish of Selbourne, bordering

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 219

on the county of Surrey, England. He is the "Fellow of
Oriel" College, Oxford, mentioned in the first paragraph.
Read the five introductory paragraphs, and be prepared to
state the notion you get from them of White's book. What
characteristics did Lowell find particularly pleasing? If pos
sible, read some of White's Natural History yourself, and see
whether you enjoy it as much as Lowell did.

Paragraph 1. Explain the figure in " ambles along on his
hobby-horse." — Barrington and Pennant were English nat
uralists contemporary with White. — Walton was the author
of The Compleat Angler, a book containing some charming
descriptions of English country. — Cowper's Task (VI, 560)
contains some famous lines on kindness to animals:

I would not enter on my list of friends,

(Though graced with polished manners and fine sense,

Yet wanting sensibility,) the man

Who needlessly sets foot upon a worm.

— Refer to the date of White and explain the significance of
the allusion to Burgoyne, and its relation to the sentence
before it. — La Grande Chartreuse was a monastery in France,
whose inmates were entirely separated from the world. —
W^hat does this paragraph tell you of White's interests?

Paragraph 2. Do you, too, find amusing such serious in
terest in trivial things? Does Lowell in this paragraph em
ploy consciously the same humorous method? How does
he use the pun for humorous effect? Do you get the point
of the joke in his wonder "if metaphysicians have no hind
toes"? — Willoughby and Ray were British scientists. —
Explain the allusion to Diogenes.

Paragraph 3. This essay was written in 1869. What
significance had the word reconstruction then? To what

220 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

other questions and debates of the day does Lowell refer
here? — Contrast instinct in the second sentence with reason
in the fifth. What sarcasm is there in the figure with which
the fifth sentence ends? — Lowell was born in the Elmwood
home and lived there all his life. — "Martin" was the
manufacturer of White's thermometer. Natural History,
Letter LIX: "Martin's, which was absurdly graduated to
only 4° above zero, sunk quite into the brass guard of the
ball, so that, when the weather became most interesting,
this was useless." — What puns here on graduation and
Mercury? — For the quotation, see Marlowe's Jew of Malta,.

i, i.

Paragraph 4. Lowell suggests the value of daily reports
by a weather bureau, not systematically organized by the
government till four years later. — What is the writer's
feeling about newspaper prophecies and their value? About
the economic wisdom of some Members of Congress? Cloaca
Maxima means "great sewer."

Paragraph 5. This paragraph is transitional, bridging
over from thoughts suggested by White to the observations
of the writer.

III. The subject matter of the essay proper has been
stated in the transitional paragraph; it had already been
suggested in the title.

Paragraph 6. What popular error about animals does
Lowell attack? What arguments does he advance to dis
prove it? What observation has he made on the time of
bird migrations? Can he explain their choice of homes?
The line of poetry quoted near the middle of the para
graph is from Chaucer's Prologue to The Canterbury Tales,
line 11.

Paragraphs 7, 8. What are the faults of the robin? The

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 221

virtues? Is Lowell willing to have him in his garden? — •
The lines from Emerson's Titmouse read,

For well the soul, if stout within,
Can arm impregnably the skin.

— Robert Bloomfield was a shoemaker-poet', not ranked very
high. — The Poor Richard ethics were of the thrifty, util
itarian sort, not idealistic nor spiritual; the robin, unlike his
" cousins," has nothing inspired about him. — Notice the
echo of Burns's "for a' that and a' that." — Dr. Samuel
Johnson was noted for his bad table manners. — Explain
"right of eminent domain." — For the allusion to the Jewish
spies see Numbers 13. — The Duke of Wellington fought
Napoleon's forces in Spain before he did at Waterloo. — The
"fair Fidele" is evidently Mrs. Lowell. — Observe the pun
with which paragraph 7 ends. — Why does Lowell compare
the robins to fire-worshippers? — The second sentence of
paragraph 8 is an echo of Wordsworth's

There are a thousand feeding like one,

from Written in March. In the third perhaps there is a
reminiscence of Shelley's Skylark,

We look before and after,
And pine for what is not.

— Pecksniff was a hypocrite in Dickens' Martin Chuzzlewit.
The robin pretends to be as ascetic as a hermit, whose vows
forbid him to use flesh foods. Explain "lobby member."

Paragraph 10. The familiar stanza,

Birds in their little nests agree,
And 'tis a shameful sight
When children of one family
Fall out and chide and fight,

222 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

is from Dr. Watt's poem on Love between Brothers and Sis
ters. — Explain " armed neutrality." — The quotation is
from Shakespeare's King Henry V, 1, 2.

Paragraph 11. What sort of people is Lowell making sport
of in the sentence about " the famous Battle of the Pines "? —
What would be the moral of ^Esop's fable about the jays?
Compose the fable, using the material Lowell supplies
here. — The last sentence parodies and puns on Goldsmith's

And fools who came to scoff remained to pray,

in The Deserted Village,

Paragraph 12. Shady Hill was the home of Lowell's friend
Charles Eliot Norton, at this time in Europe.

Paragraph 13. Saint Preux was the lover of Julie, heroine
of Rousseau's La Nouvelle Heloise — a very pattern of a
lover. What is the point of comparison between the crow
trying to be tenderly sentimental and a Mississippi boatman
quoting Tennyson? — The Kanakas were the aborigines of
the Hawaiian Islands.

Paragraph 14. Edward E. Hale was a Boston clergyman,
author of The Man without a Country.

Paragraph 15. Figaro is a character in the plays of Beau-
marchais. He is gay, lively, talkative, and full of strata
gems. — Mr. H. Dixon wrote a book of travels called New
America. The Oneida Community in Central New York,
like the Mormons of Salt Lake City, held peculiar views on
marriage. What feeling does Lowell express in the sentence,
" An intelligent . . . matters"? — Chateaubriand was a
French essayist. The quotation from his letters (written in
America) means, "my horses grazing at some distance."
Notice the pun in "mount the high horse."

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 223

Paragraph 18. The truce of God was established by the
Church in that part of the Middle Ages when secular govern
ments were weak and miscellaneous warfare common. It
was a suspension of feuds and hostilities over holy days,
including Sunday.

Paragraph 19. Mount Auburn is a cemetery in Cambridge,
not far from Elmwood. " Sweet" is a reminiscence of
Goldsmith's Deserted Village,

Sweet Auburn! loveliest village of the plain.

-Eheu fugaces! is, being translated, "Alas, transitory
things!" — Fresh Pond is near Cambridge. — Ellengowan is
a ruined gypsy village in Scott's Guy Mannering.

Paragraph 20. Trouvaille means "a find." Captain Kidd
was a famous pirate, whose treasure, though supposedly
buried somewhere on our Atlantic coast, has never been
found. — By "the most poetic of ornithologists" Lowell
means the Wilson for whom this thrush was named. — Lowell
coins the verb oologize; what does it mean? How did the mess
mates of the Ancient Mariner feel toward him? See Cole
ridge's poem. — The Trastevere is the workingman's quarter
in Rome. A woman of this quarter (a " Trasteverina ")
not infrequently sits on the doorstep to remove vermin from
the head of a child. — Eheu means "Alas!" Ovid was a
Latin poet; his Metamorphoses is his most famous work, an
account of the change of human beings to animals or plants.
The plaintive note of this bird would have suggested to Ovid
some pathetic tale of transformation.

Paragraph 21. The "involuntary pun" is between the
words mansuetude and accustomed. — How did Penn treat
the Indians? How does Lowell say the Puritans treated

224 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

them? Hebraism means the doctrine of the Bible, the Old
Testament having been written in Hebrew. — Whom does
Lowell mean by "featherless bipeds"?

IV. What attitude has Lowell toward the birds and
squirrels in his garden? Does he talk of them as if they were
human beings? Is this essay interesting to you? Explain
your answer. Do you find in it any of the qualities Lowell
admired in White's Natural History? Is Lowell's humor
unconscious? How does this essay show the writer's scholar
ship? Is it in any way pedantic?

THE VISION OF SIR LAUNFAL

I. The old romances tell us that the Holy Grail was the
cup from which Christ drank at the Last Supper (St. Mat
thew 24: 26ff.), and in which Joseph of Arimathea caught the
blood from His side, as He hung on the Cross. Joseph be
came a missionary to Britain, and carried with him the sacred
cup. There it remained many years in charge of his descend
ants. Finally one of them broke the monastic vows that
were upon him, and the Grail disappeared. The young
knights of romance often undertook the adventure of finding
it, but no one was fit to behold the sacred symbol who was
not spotless in heart and life. Their quest, therefore, was
usually unsuccessful. Sir Launfal makes the quest of the
Holy Grail his first important adventure. The choice of
subject throws Lowell's time back into the Middle Ages,
and justifies the use of many archaic words. The tale, how
ever, is Lowell's own. There was a Sir Launfal in the old
romances, but his story was not at all like this. (See Launfal
in Four Lais of Marie de France, in the series called " Arthur
ian Romances Unrepresented in Malory's Morte d' Arthur,"

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL

225

published by Nutt, London; sold in America by Messrs.
Charles Scribner's Sons.) Lowell's moral would hardly
have been possible in a mediaeval tale; for, in spite of
their boasted humility, the knights were full of the pride
of rank.

II. The poem is a narrative in two parts, each part pre
ceded by a " prelude." The use of preludes is excellent in this
poem, for many years are supposed to elaspe between the
first part of the narrative and the second, and the prelude
to Part II makes the necessary break in narration. They are
also good because the description of nature in each prelude
strengthens the atmosphere of the part of the narrative that
follows it.

We shall study the entire narrative before we take up either
prelude.

III. Read Part I and Part II. Point out the line where
Launfal is said to go to sleep; and the one where he is said to
wake up. Justify the use of " Vision" in the title. Express
the moral thought of the poem in your own words. Do you
think the two verses, Matthew 25 : 40, 45, summarize morally
the two parts of the narrative? You have noticed that the
poem is a story about life, and yet that the nature element
is very strong in it, and re-enforces the atmosphere. With
the story clearly in mind, study the following : —

Parti

Atmosphere

Contrast

Youth,

Launfal (physically)
Summer

Landscape

Castle
Leper
Launfal (spiritually)

light
life

warmth
joy

cold, gloom

darkness

disease

226

STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Part II

Atmosphere

Contrast

[Old Age

Launfal (physically)
\ Leper IV-VI
Winter

Landscape

Stanza III
Launfal (spiritually)
Castle and Launfal in X
Leper in VII, VIII

cold

darkness
weakness
poverty

brightness

sunshine

warmth

beauty

gladness

This is a poem with a happy ending: light, life, and joy win
for themselves everything that has been under the power of
darkness, disease, and cold — Launfal's heart, the Leper, the
castle.

IV. Read the narrative again, this time to understand
every word, figure, and allusion. Use the following notes and
questions :

Line 100: This was a common vow for a knight to take on
beginning a quest.

Line 102: Begin means "have," as sometimes in early
English. "I will never sleep in a bed till I have found the
Grail."

Line 103: Rushes were spread over the floor before the
day of carpets. Line 104: He superstitiously looked for a
dream to guide him in starting on his quest.

Line 115: A metaphor begins in " outpost" and continues
through the stanza. The army of Summer besieges this
outpost of Winter. Explain the figure in detail.

Line 130: Maiden means " young," "on his first adven
ture."

Line 131: Imagine the brilliant Launfal framed in the
dark arch of the castle gate.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 227

Lines 132-136 continue the figure of war above (lines
115 etc.).

Line 138: Maiden means "new," "unused;" compare
line 130.

Lines 142-144 : To what is the castle compared?

Line 147: Explain "made morn."

Line 149: "Sate" is an old form of the verb, equivalent to
sat.

Line 166: See the story of the Widow's mite. Mark 12:42.

Line 167: In one of his letters Lowell 'says, "God is the
secret, the spring, source and center of all Beauty." The
divinity of our common humanity is the thread that is " out of
sight," and yet unites us all in one brotherhood, as a thread
holds together a necklace of beads. We are kind to each other
not merely because it is duty, but because we feel kindly and
sympathetic. Duty is a good motive, but love is a far higher
one.

Line 171: Explain the figure.

Line 172: What does "store" mean?

Lines 240-241: Contrast with line 113.

Lines 242-243: Explain the metaphor.

Line 244: Contrast with lines 109, 111.

Line 246: For "again" refer to line 140.

Lines 247-249: Explain the metaphor comparing morning
to an old person.

Line 252 : Compare this Launf al with the one described in
Part I, Stanza III.

Line 254: Recked means "cared for."

Line 255 : Knights engaged in holy adventures often wore
on their armor the sign of the cross; for example, those who
'went on the Crusades.

Lines 56, 57 : Explain the meaning.

228 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Line 259: Explain the metaphor in "mail" and "barbed."

Line 261 : He tried to keep himself warm by thinking of a
visit he had made, in his quest, to a warm country — a desert.
Notice the progress of the caravan toward him. In the dis
tance it is only a crooked black line; gradually it approaches
till he can count the camels. Explain the beautiful descrip
tion of the oasis in simile and metaphor (lines 269-272).

Line 273: Before the imaginary camels reach the imagi
nary spring, Launfal is wakened from his day-dream by the
leper's voice.

Lines 276, 278 : The two similes are explained by the nature
of the leper's disease; it turns the sufferer's skin white.
Line 279: "Desolate" because lepers are outcasts.

Lines 280ff.: This time Launfal recognizes in the leper a
brother man — an image of the Perfect Man. Explain the
metonymy in lines 282-285. In this prayer (lines 286, 287)
Launfal responds to the leper's appeal (line 273).

Line 288: The leper's look accuses Launfal of his former
pride.

Line 290: Compare line 158.

Line 294 : Think of what you have read in the Bible of the
Oriental custom of putting ashes on the head as a sign of
grief or repentance, and explain the metonymy.

Lines 300, 301 : Explain the meaning.

Line 307: See Acts 3:2, 10. Pillars are among the usual
decorations of beautiful church doors.

Line 308: See John 14: 6; 10: 9. The One who has taught
man, by word and by example, the way to make himself
more like the divine.

Lines 310-313: Explain the figures.

Line 314: Force of the contradiction in "softer" and
"silence." Notice the melody of this passage.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 229

Line 315: See John 6 : 20.

Lines 320, 321 : See Matthew 26: 26-28.

Lines 326, 327: Explain the meaning.

Line 328: Refer to line 108.

Line 329 : Explain the meaning.

Line 330 : Idle means ' ' useless. ' ' Explain line 331.

Line 332: What "stronger mail" can one wear? See
Ephesians 6: 14-17.

Lines 334ff.: Launfal showed by his actions that he had
understood the lesson of his dream.

Line 337: See line 142.

Lines 338-341: See line 119 and the metaphor following.

Line 343 : Observe the personification.

Line 345: The "hall" was the large, central, common room
of the castle; the "bowers" the more private rooms.

Line 346: "North Countree" (see also line 116) is a com
mon expression in the old ballads — one of the many ar
chaisms brought into the poem because of its medieval
motif.

V. We have now to study the preludes. The poem opens
with eight lines that explain the value of a prelude in leading
up to the mood of the work to follow. We are likely to
associate the word "prelude" with music, and Lowell there
fore discusses the prelude from the musical point of view.
The organist is extemporizing; he feels his theme vaguely
(line 2) ; as he goes on, his theme grows more definite in his
mind; and his prelude leads gradually up to the body of his
composition. A beautiful metaphor in lines 7, 8 compares
with the dawn of the morning the gradual approach of the pre
lude to the main composition. Lowell's preludes, ought then,
to feel for his theme, dimly at first, by producing the atmos
phere of the following part, and to lead gradually up to the

230 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

story of Sir Launfal. The preludes emphasize the nature ele
ment which does so much to give atmosphere to the narrative
we have already studied.

VI. The first prelude, dealing with nature and emphasiz
ing the atmosphere of Part I, must have summer for its sub
ject. Read it with the following outline: —

1. Nature inspires man (lines 9-12),

a. to better life (lines 13-20) ;

b. without pay (lines 21-32).

2. She inspires him through the June day.

a. Description of a June day (lines 33-60).

b. Effect on man's character (lines 61-92) :

(1) makes him happier,

(2) makes him better;

(a) reminds Launfal of his vow to seek the

Grail.

Think the prelude through once more, with the outline, and
try to see how it begins "doubtfully and far away," with the
general influence of nature; then through the description of
summer and a statement of its influence on the moral nature
of man in general, brings us up gradually to the story of
Launfal. The last two lines form a transition to the narrative.

Read the prelude again carefully, with these notes and
questions : —

Lines 9, 10: Wordsworth's Ode on Intimations of Im
mortality expresses the thought that our souls, having come
from heaven, are nearer heaven in infancy than in later life.

The kernel of the poem is in the fifth stanza.

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting:
The Soul that rises with us, our life's Star,
Hath had elsewhere its setting,
And cometh from afar:

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 231

Not in entire forgetfulness,

And not in utter nakedness,
But trailing clouds of glory do we come

From God, who is our home:
Heaven lies about us in our infancy!
Shades of the prison-house begin to close

Upon the growing Boy,
But He beholds the light, and whence it flows,

He sees it in his joy;
The Youth, who daily farther from the East

Must travel, still is Nature's Priest,

And by the vision splendid

Is on his way attended;
At length the Man perceives it die away,
And fade into the light of common day.

Lowell does not believe that this is true (lines 11, 12).
In spite of our faults and imperfections we feel every day
high influence. Whom did Moses meet on Mount Sinai?
(Exodus 19.) See also Lowell's Letters, I, 139, and the refer
ence to Sinai in Bibliolatres.

Lines 13-20: Five objects or forces of nature are mentioned
as inspiring us in mature life: the skies with their attitude
of tender care; the winds with their warning and exhorta
tions; the mountain, inciting us to be courageous; the wood
with its blessing; the restless sea, urging us to be active and
energetic. Explain "druid" (line 17).

Lines 21-24: In this world we have to pay even for things
we do not wish to have. Lines 25-28: At Vanity Fair we
pay good gold for worthless things: our lives for a little
notice and fame, such as was given of old to the court jester
with his cap and bells; our souPs salvation for useless, tem
porary pleasures. Lines 29-32: The influence of nature
costs nothing, and is worth more than all the rest.

Lines 35, 36: Explain the metaphor.

232 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Lines 39-42: Explain the meaning.

Line 43: " Flush" refers to the colors of flowers and blos
soms.

Line 46: Explain the figure.

Line 52: What is the antecedent of "it"?

Lines 53-55: Explain the meaning.

Line 56: What does "nice" mean?

Lines 57-60: Explain the metaphor.

Lines 6 Iff. : Has June ever affected you in this way?

Line 78: Explain the metaphor.

Line 87: Why "unscarred"?

Lines 91-93: Explain the metaphor.

This prelude is not the only place in which Lowell has ex
pressed his love for the month of June. If you have time,
you should read also Under the Willows, Al Fresco, and The
Nightingale in the Study. This preference was well-known
among his friends. Holmes began a poem to Lowell with,

This is your month, the month of 'perfect days.'

— HOLMES : To James Russell Lowell.

The influence of nature on the soul is discussed in the
first stanza of Lowell's Freedom, written about the same
time as Sir Launfal. In Lowell's Letters (I, 164) we find the
following passage: "This same name of God is written all
over the world in little phenomena that occur under our eyes
every moment, and I confess that I feel very much inclined
to hang my head with Pizarro when I cannot translate those
hieroglyphics into my own vernacular."

VII. The prelude to Part II deals with winter, as the nature
element of Part II is represented by winter. The prelude is
not altogether gloomy, though it is wintry, because gloom
would foretell a sad ending. The good cheer in the castle

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 233

foreshadows the hospitality which Launfal shows after he
wakens (stanza X). Study the prelude with the following
notes and questions : —

Line 174: What effect has the sentence-inversion?

Line 179: Note the harmony of sound and sense.

Lines 181-210: These lines are constructed on a metaphor
comparing the brook to an architect, and the ice above it to
a roof. Mark all the words of building and architecture that
belong in this figure. Think of the shapes and figures you
have seen in thin ice covering ponds — or even puddles of
water beside the road. Use your dictionary freely for archi
tectural terms, and remember that the material used by
Architect Brook was all ice; then these lines will be clear to
you. Explain lines 205-210 by referring to lines 187-196.
In his Letters (I, 164) Lowell says he found this picture on an
evening walk to Watertown, "with the new moon before me
and a sky exactly like that in Page's evening landscape.
Orion was rising behind me, and, as I stood on the hill just
before you enter the village, the stillness of the fields around
me was delicious, broken only by the tinkle of a little brook,
which runs too swiftly for Frost to catch it." See also the
winter picture in An Indian Summer Reverie, lines 148-196.

Line 212: Explain the figure.

Lines 215, 216: What figure in "gulf " and "tide"?

Lines 217, 218: Explain the metaphor.

Lines 219, 220: Explain the figure.

Lines 221-224: Explain the figure that describes the move
ment of the sparks through the soot on the inside of the
chimney.

Line 226: In this prelude we find the name of Launfal
used earlier than in the first prelude (line 94). We are
already interested in him, and ready to continue the story

234 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

of his adventures. What word tells you that many years
have elapsed since he set out, a young knight, to seek the
Grail? What figure is found in lines 226-232? Notice
harmony of sound and thought in these lines.

Line 233: Explain the simile. Does a sudden, loud noise
ever affect one as a sudden, bright light does?

Lines 238, 239 : Explain the metaphor.

Lines 174-180 have expressed something of the desolation
of winter. The picture of the brook is all beauty. The pic
ture of the castle gives the gay, social aspect of winter. The
last paragraph of the prelude, of which Launfal is the central
figure, comes back to the note of desolation. This is made
necessary by his condition and by the approach to Part II,
which opens most gloomily. The gaiety inside the castle
makes the darkness outside only more cold and lonely by
contrast.

VIII. Read The Vision of Sir Launfal from beginning to
end, aloud. Think constantly of expressing the meaning you
have found in it, and also of bringing out the music of the
poetry.

THE PRESENT CRISIS

I. This poem (1844) was inspired by the questions that
came up in connection with the proposed annexation of
Texas. If Texas should be annexed to the United States, the
slave territory would be extended, and the slavery faction
would become stronger. The Abolitionists, therefore, op
posed the annexation. The poem calls on voters to stand
for the right, knowing that right will win at last. It exhorts
men to put themselves into the class of heroes, who have
sacrificed their own present advantage for the good of the
race.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 235

For Lowell's interest in abolition, see his biographies.
A "crisis" is a time of decision — a moment when condi
tions may change for better or for worse.

II. Read the poem with the following outline:

Theme : It is every person's duty to help on the work that
his generation has to do for the advancement of society.

1. Mankind are one in spirit (lines 1-20).

a. All feel the good done in one place;

b. All feel the evil done in one place.

2. There comes to every man and nation a crisis — a time

to decide for or against Truth (lines 21-40).
a. Truth will always win in the end.

3. If we choose the evil, we endanger those that come after

us (lines 41-50).

4. It is noble to side with a truth that is unpopular and

has yet to fight its way to acceptance (lines 51-70).

a. The heroes of earth have done so;

b. Progress could not be made without such heroes.

5. Every generation has a new test of its devotion to truth

(lines 71-90).

a. We are not brave nor progressive if we simply agree
to truths already accepted by society.

III. Possibly the poem seems a little difficult to under
stand in detail. Lowell was so full of enthusiasm that his
mind hurried from figure to figure, and he has not given us,
on this subject on which he felt so deeply, as smooth and
rhetorically logical a poem as he might write in a calmer
mood. There is wonderful force, however, in the crowded
metaphors and in the vigorous lines — a force that comes
not from polished rhetoric, but from the intense moral feeling
of the poet. The following notes will help you to understand
some of the more difficult lines.

236 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Lines 1, 2: Notice the metaphor. Line 3: The "East" is
the place of dawn. Line 4: Manhood includes self-direction,
freedom. Line 5: Explain the metaphor comparing liberty
to the blossom of the century-plant.

Line 1 1 : The third stanza is the reverse of the first. Com
pare the two, line for line. Line 13: "His sympathies with
God" are his aspirations for a fuller life. Line 15: Without
the soul of a man (self-directing, free) the slave is no better
than a corpse — less noble than the dust from which he was
made.

Line 6: Return, now, to the second stanza, which con
tinues the thought of the first. The metaphor compares the
success of a reform to the birth of a child into the world.
Line 7: Social systems are completely changed by some re
forms. Line 9: Nations wondering what great change will
come next. Line 10: As soon as one reform is completed,
another, perhaps a greater, begins to be agitated.

Line 16: The fourth stanza explains the facts stated in
the first and third. Line 17: The figure refers to the tele
graph. Line 19: Explain "ocean-sundered." What figure in
"frame" and "fibers"? "Joy" refers to the first stanza,
"shame" to the third. Line 20: This line is a summary of
the four stanzas.

Line 22: Is it natural to personify Truth and Falsehood
here? Line 23: People revealed , themselves as good or evil
by taking part for or against the Messiah. Line 24 : Matthew
25:32, 33. Line 25: The decision made at the moment of
crisis can never be changed; it becomes history.

Line 26: Party is "side." Line 27: Doom is "judgment."
If one does not accept the good, he is judged. Luke 9: 5.

Lines 31, 32: We know little about the past. A few im
portant events and movements are recorded; they show in

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 237

the sea of oblivion as islands, the tops of sunken mountains,
appear above the water of the ocean. Line 33: Busy with
the affairs of the world, no one sees the need of social reform.
Line 34: "Winnowers" and " chaff" repeat the thought of
the earlier metaphor "Messiah" and "goats" (lines 23, 24).
Explain. Line 35 : No one realizes that the decision is so im
portant till it has been made.

Line 36: "Avenger" of wrong. Line 37: Old social sys
tems and the better order of things. The Word is " Messiah "
again. John 1:1. Do you find this true in the history of
human progress? Line 38 : Is a new truth always persecuted
before it prevails? With lines 39, 40 compare lines 28-30.

Lines 41: Compare line 35. Line 42: Explain the meta
phor. Line 43 : Compare line 33 — our absorption in worldly
affairs. Line 44 : The great oracle (line 43) was the one that
lived in the cave at Delphi, Greece. What is this voice whis
pering in the soul? Does a compromise usually strengthen
the wrong side? How much harder, then, is the task of
crushing the stronger evil later!

Line 46: Thus far Lowell has been stating social prin
ciples. Now he mentions the great evil of his day, the
specific one he has had in mind all the time. All evils are
giants, sons of Force and Ignorance, but slavery is most cruel
of all. You can find a description of the terrible Cyclops
in the story of Ulysses (Odysseus) in your Greek mythology.
Is it true that evil has "drenched the earth with blood"?
Destructive Slavery has made a desert about himself, and
now reaches for new territory — tries to make himself strong
enough to destroy a new generation.

Line 51: Explain the figure. Line 54: Doubting means
"hesitating," till the struggle is over, and everyone boasts of
holding a faith that, till recently, he denied.

238 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Line 57: They were working for society, not for them
selves; yet society killed them. Ads 7:54-60. Line 58: The
beam of the balance of justice; compare lines 28-30, 39-40.
Lines 59, 60 : They foresee the triumph of their cause because
they are mastered by a divine faith; their own high purpose
gives them faith in other men and in the moral order of the
universe.

Line 61: Is this history — have " heretics" been burned
for every advance society has made? Line 63: The "mounts
of anguish" are the " Calvaries" where martyrs have suffered
at every stage of the race's progress. A reformer dies, but
he does not turn back (line 62). Each generation takes one
step forward in social progress. Line 64: Prophet-hearts
foresee the triumph (lines 58-60) through their sympathy
with the divine; they have confidence in humanity because
of their own worth.

Line 66: The movement of the race is always forward.
The cause that calls for martyrs today offers a field for selfish
mercenaries and traitors tomorrow. Matthew 26:14, 15.
Line 68 : But there is still place for work and suffering in front
of the majority; see lines 61/62. Lines 69, 70: Finally so
ciety comes up to the position the martyr has taken, and
makes a hero of him. Explain the figure.

Lines 71-73: We must not think the times of our fathers
were good enough for us and for those that come after us; we
must be martyrs and heroes, and lead forward. Explain the
figures. Lines 74, 75: We are proud of our New England
ancestry. But what were they in their own day? Perse
cuted exiles, outcasts for a principle now established in
America.

Line 76: " Present" in their day — not satisfied with the
social conquests of the past. Define " iconoclast." Line 77:

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 239

Persecution did not change them. Lines 78-80: If we pro
fess only the truths they established, we are false to the
principle of social progress, which drove them across the sea
to plant a freer nation; we are three' hundred years behind
the times, instead of leading forward. Explain line 79.

Line 81: Traitors to their principle of progress when we
cling to their time instead of moving on to our own present
and future. Explain the figure in line 82. Emphasize " new-
lit." Line 83: Ought we to be shut in by the knowledge and
beliefs of earlier days? We ought to know more than our
ancestors, to believe better than they. Lines 83-85: Shall
we persecute persons who refuse to cling to the past? Explain
the figure. Line 86: Uncouth is "out-of-date," "ridiculous."
Line 88: Emphasize "before," as you emphasized "in front"
in line 68. Emphasize "ouselves," and in line 89 "our."
"Pilgrims," i. e. leaders of a new movement; "Mayflower,"
the movement; "winter" — the Pilgrims landed in Decem
ber. Line 90: Explain the figure.

IV. Study the meter, rime and stanza of the poem. Is it
at all irregular?

V. Read the poem again with the outline, this time aloud.
Memorize five sentences or parts of sentences that are, you
feel, worth remembering all your life.

VI. This poem was a favorite one with anti-slavery
speakers. Speaking of certain lines, George William Curtis
said: "Wendell Phillips winged with their music and tipped
with their flame the dart of his fervid appeal and manly
scorn." The stanza beginning "For humanity sweeps on
ward" was used by Sumner in the speech that provoked the
attack of Preston Brooks. See Greenslet's Lowell, 79, 80.

The poem was written specifically against compromise with
the slavery power; but it discusses chiefly a universal prin-

240 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

ciple. This principle is contained in the statement of the
theme above. Find it in the poem, in Lowell's words.

VII. Write a paragraph on what seems to you "The
Present Crisis" of the year in which you study this poem:
is it municipal reform, civil-service reform, some industrial
problem, or what? Use as an introduction to your para
graph a general statement of one's duty to society — the uni
versal principle which Lowell has been trying to impress on us,
and which will be as true a thousand years hence as it is now.

ODE RECITED AT THE HARVARD COMMEMORATION

I. The occasion of this poem was a service held in honor of
the Harvard men who had been killed in the Civil War. The
service was held on July twenty-first, 1865, on a lawn near
the college grounds, and many prominent men were present.
Lowell's recitation of his great Ode was most affecting.
Underwood, in his James Russell Lowell, page 68, describes
the scene.

II. The Ode was written with the greatest speed. Two
days before the services, Lowell had not begun it. On the day
before, he says, "Something gave me a jog, and the whole
thing came out of me with a rush. I sat up all night writing
it out clear, and took it on the morning of the day to Child.
' I have something, but don't know yet what it is or whether
it will do. Look at it and tell me.' He went a little way apart
under an elm-tree in the college yard. He read a passage
here and there, brought it back to me, and said, 'Do? I
should think so! Don't you be scared.' And I wasn't, but
virtue enough had gone out of me to make me weak for a
fortnight after." (Letters of Lowell.) See index to Letters,
edited by Norton, and index to Scudder's Life of Lowell; also
Greenslet's Lowell, pages 161-163.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 241

A poem so hurriedly written necessarily lacks the rhetorical
polish of one which the author has revised again and again.
The Ode is extremely condensed in expression, and is full of
involved and difficult sentences and of figures of speech so
closely following each other that they hardly escape being
" mixed." Moreover, transition and coherence between stan
zas is not always clear. But the sentiment is exalted, and
the imagery is noble. The poem is well worth all the study
required to master its difficulties.

III. The motto of Harvard College suggested the general
theme of the poem — Veritas. The thesis is this : The sol
diers who went from Harvard into the war were following
the teachings of Alma Mater in fighting for Truth ; and their
lives are not wasted, because their influence will be an eter
nal blessing to the race.

In the preliminary reading of the poem, use the following
outline as an aid:

Stanzas 1-3. The soldiers worshipped Truth with deeds;
that is, they actually did something for the advancement of
the race. We offer only words.

Stanza 4. Is there nothing we can do to make our lives
helpful to those that come after us?

Stanza 5. The man who follows Truth will have battles to
fight.

Stanza 6. Lincoln was the best exponent of the spirit of
American democracy.

Stanza 7. Service by action is higher than service by
thought and word merely.

Stanza 8. While I try to praise the living, I mourn for
the dead. Yet they are not dead; their noble example still
lives and inspires us.

Stanza 9. The fame of the individual man passes away,

242 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

but the spiritual bequest of the hero remains to the
race.

Stanza 10. Our soldiers have proved our democratic na
tion a country of noble men.

Stanza 11. A song of praise for the soldiers, who have
saved the nation, and of gladness for our nationality pre
served.

Stanza 12. An apostrophe to our country, expressing the
poet's ardent patriotism.

IV. Study the poem with the following notes, questions,
and paraphrases.

Lines 1-3: Explain the metaphor comparing poetry to a
bird of weak wing, and action to a bird of powerful pinions.
Line 5: Is the poet's offering worthy? The robin is not a
bird of high flight. Line 6: The antecedent of "who" is
"their." Explain "nobler verse." Line 7: "Song" is ap-
positive to "robin's leaf" (line 5). Line 8: The soldiers and
generals present. Line 9: A "strophe" is a stanza of an ode.
A "squadron" is a platoon of soldiers; the figure of line 6 is
continued. Line 10: "Battle-odes" is appositive to "squad
ron-strophes." Notice the double sense of "lines." Line 11 :
"Feathered" goes back to the figure in lines 1-3. Line 12:
To buoy up and save a gracious memory. Line 13: Find
"Lethe" in your mythology. "Grave" is appositive to
"ooze." In a poem in honor of soldiers, the life of action
will, of course, be exalted above the life of thought.

Line 15: The "Reverend Mother" is the Alma Mater,
Harvard. Line 16: "Wisest" is explained in the next lines.
A student looks for intellectual truth; but there is a higher
kind of truth. Line 17: For "mystic tome" see the seal of
Harvard College, on which the word "Veritas" appears.
Line 19 : Until recent years Greek and Latin were the chief

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 243

studies in the college course. Line 20: Reference to the
elaborate nomenclature of science. Line 21 : Astronomy took
the place of the old astrology. Line 22: Mere intellectual
knowledge is like poetry, " weak-winged" (lines 1-3). With
line 23 compare line 13. Line 24: "Date," or limit, of our
existence. Line 25: With "clear fame" compare Milton's
Lyddasj line 70. Line 27: Harvard never taught that the
mere intellectual conception of truth was the end of college
training. Line 28: "Trumpet-call" is "teaching," in meta
phor, appropriate here because duty had called these sons of
Harvard to battle. Line 32: "Half-virtues" because they
do not require the strenuous courage of the war-like virtues.
Line 34: But [thy "teaching was] rather. Line 35: "Spon
sors" were the men who founded Harvard in 1636. Line 37:
The essence of Truth, the germ or grain, of which the name
is only the useless hull. Line 40: "Seed-grain" continues
the metaphor in "sheath" (line 38). "Life," "seed-grain,"
"food," and "thing" are appositive to "Veritas."

Lines 42-45: The scholar seeks Truth thus. The "cast
mantle" of words expressing a truth already established, no
longer progressive. See II Kings 2:14. Line 51: He only
who acts Truth knows it thoroughly. Line 58: See line 45.
Lines 60-62: See line 45. The "lifeless creed" is the "cast
mantle." Line 63: Truth, pictured in the garb of Athene.

Lines 66, 67: Life spoken of under the metaphor of a
stream. Line 69: For means "because of." Line 71: Some
immortal work to do for society. Line 73 : Explain the meta
phor. Line 74: See means "know." Line 78: Notice the
figure in "hiving." Line 82: See Sir Launfal, Prelude I.
Lines 83-87: The metaphor is taken from a puppet-show,
where the figures are moved about by wires; for a little
while the pasteboard figures act extravagantly; then the

244 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

manager tosses them into a box, to await the next exhibition.
Lines 74-87 are the cynic's answer to the questions asked in
lines 68-73. Now Lowell stops the cynic with "But stay!"
and begins his own answer to the questions. Line 90 : We get
the fate we deserve. Line 91: The subjects of "is" are
"something" (line 91), "something" (line 93), "something"
(line 95), "seed" (line 97), "conscience" (line 101), "glad
ness" (line 102), "sense" (line 103), "light" (line 105). Line
92: "The cynic's sneer" in lines 74-87. Lines 93, 94 answer
lines 70, 71. Line 97: Explain the metaphor. Line 107:
" Beaconing " to a glorious future for each one of us. Express
in your own words Lowell's answer to the questions in lines
68-73.

Lines 108, 109: The "ampler fates" are those referred to
in line 107. Lines 110-112: Explain the metaphor. "Youth's
vain-glorious weeds" are boasting words and promises. Line
113: "But [this path leads] up." The world makes progress
by means of battle, not by means of words. Creeds are
"beliefs." The battle-figure for life continues to line 121.
Line 118: A man may serve society worthily in time of peace.
Line 122: Some day the smouldering passion behind the dis
cussion will, by the initiative of one side or the other, the right
or the wrong, burst into actual combat. For the allusion in
lines 123-125, see I Kings 18:20-40; Jeremiah 19:5. Line
126: "The war of tongue and pen" is the "thought" in line
122; discussion of a question. The Lincoln-Douglas debates
are a good example in this connection. Line 129: "Pillared^
state" is the subject of "shakes," and "helpless" (line 128)"
modifies "state." Is this the history of social reform — first
discussion and debate, and then, when passion has risen high
on both sides, battle and conflict? Review the history of the
agitation against slavery in our country. Line 130 : We wooed

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 245

with words a pleasant social ideal. Line 131: The battle-
stage being reached. Line 132: The "praise," or reputation,
of being a reformer. Line 134: See line 112. Line 135:
Words that mean nothing. Line 136: Genius for speech, for
which your deeds are not mates. Line 139 : As bravely in the
study as on the battle-field. How? Line 140: Fate kindly
provides more than one way of giving life for Truth. But
after all (lines 141-149), to fight in physical battle for Truth
is heroic after the fashion of the heroes of olden time —
strong, natural, assured, self-sufficient men.

Line 150: This stanza "was not in the Ode as originally
recited, but added immediately after." "Such" refers to
"God's plan and measure of a stalwart man" as described
in lines 140-149. Lincoln was assassinated about three
months before the Ode was written. About a year and a half
before, Lowell had written an article for The North American
Review (January, 1864, "The President's Policy"), in which
he had praised Lincoln in a manner similar to this. See
Lowell's letter of January 16, 1886, to R. W. Gilder. Many of
the cultivated people of the nation could, at that time, see in
him only a crude Westerner. Line 152: "Ashes" among
Eastern nations are worn as a sign of mourning. Line 154:
"Present things," i. e. praise of Harvard men. Line 156:
What old burial custom is referred to? This reference consti
tutes what figure of speech? Line 157 : Is in her dotage — can
not do anything new and original. Line 161 : In Lincoln she
created a man after a new pattern, of new material. Line 165 :
Had Lincoln the three qualities mentioned here? Line 167 : A
shepherd leads his flock ("charge"). Line 170: See line 148.
Lincoln was of most humble parentage. Line 173: "They"
are "the people" (line 169). He was lacking in outward
graces. Line 175: What figure in "sure-footed"? Lines 176,

246 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

177: A well-tempered Damascus blade can be bent into a cir
cle, and will spring out straight again for the fencer's thrust.
This is a good metaphor for a nature adaptable yet persistent
and consistent. Lines 178-183: Explain the metaphor.
" Sea-mark," i. e. can be seen by vessels a long distance out;
but if it is often hidden by vapors, it is an unreliable aid. Are
the greatest minds always as practically useful to common
men? Think of the world's great philosophers. Line 184: See
line 170. Line 185: Or, if he has Old World characteristics,
they are those of Europe when she was more primitive, and
free, before she had such artificial class distinctions as now.
" Equal scheme," i. e. scheme for equality. Line 189: True
race of primitive men, in whom, at least according to Words
worth, it is easy to trace the fundamental virtues. Plutarch
wrote the lives of a great number of classic heroes. Lines
192-195: A strong man does not care for present popularity.
He knows that the future will justify him. Line 196: So
Lincoln did. Line 200: Time will show whether he was a
wise president or not. Lines 201-203: Certain men have
great temporary fame. Line 204: "Standing" goes with
"fame" (line 205). Lines 206-208: Is this characterization
of Lincoln correct? With line 208 compare line 162. " First "
means "foremost:" the American who best embodies Ameri
can principles and ideals.

Line 209: The stanza begins with two rather long time
clauses: "As long as" (line 209) and "as long as" (line 214)
are their connectives; the correlative beginning the main
clause is "so long" (line 216). Lines 209-211 go back to the
question in line 70. Lines 211, 212: The figure is that of
chariot-wheels turning about the immovable pole on which
they are placed. Perhaps the pole represents the line of social
progress, on which the great men of earth do their work. Line

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 247

215: See line 72. Lines 216ff. : The sentence is very compli
cated. " Faith" (line 216) and " mood " (line 218) are the sub
jects; "shall win" (line 223) and "shall be" (line 224) are the
verbs; "wisdom" (line 224) and "virtue" (line 226) are com
plements of "shall be" (line 224). "Names" (line 217) has
three appositives in line 218. The adjective clause "that
thanks (line 219) and has" (line 222) modifies "mood" (line
218). The participles "feeling" (line 220) and "set" (line
222) go with the relative- "that" (line 219). Ethereal
(line 218) means "exalted." Line 223: All other skills and
gifts dear to culture. See lines 19-21. The sentence asserts
that courageous service of society in time of danger is the
work we praise most highly and longest. Lines 229-231:
That is why we hold this service for the Harvard soldiers.
Line 232: The Promised Land is described in Numbers 13
and 14 — "a land flowing with milk and honey," to the occu
pation of which the Israelites had long looked forward, as the
Abolitionists had looked forward to complete liberty in Amer
ica. Line 234: "They," i. e., the soldiers. Line 235: Explain
the metaphor in "nettle." Lines 240-244: In the conven
tional manner, Lowell speaks of poetry in the terms of song
accompanied on the lyre. You will understand the spirit of
these lines when you know that Lowell lost three nephews in
the Civil War, and that, since his only son had died in infancy,
he felt for his nephews something of a father's interest and
affection. Line 252: Lowell checks himself in the expression
of his grief; for the main thing in life is not reaping the reward
of labor but doing the work in the proper spirit. For " grapes
of Canaan " refer to the Promised Land (line 232) . Line 260 :
Saints wear aureoles. Line 265: Orient means "light;" re
ferring to the direction in which the sun rises. Line 271;
"Morn" refers to "orient" (line 165). Their shields of Hope

248 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

for the future of the race to which they have given their
lives.

Line 272 : But can we hope to keep forever this exalted in
spiration that they now impart to us? Shall we not forget
in time their example? Are not all men forgotten, save a few?
All books, save a few of the best? — Are lines 274-286 a cor
rect estimate of the past? Notice the metaphor in lines 282,
283. Notice the epigram in line 285. Line 286: Even the
things that seem most stable are not. Line 289 : Men try to
make themselves immortal names by building tombs; clever
men are famous as long as they live. Line 291 : But we are
" leaves," not fruit, and produce nothing. Line 292: Will
not these soldier-boys be forgotten when we, their personal
friends, have passed away? Line 298: Their "dying" would
not be without results (contrast line 291). But the Soul re
sents the inference that a man's influence lives only through
the generation that he belongs to; society could not progress
if this were true (line 300). Line 301: The Soul claims that
a man's spiritual influence lasts longer than his personal fame.
Explain the figure. Lines 303-309 : Her influence has been too
deep and too far-reaching to cease; it passes on from soul to
soul in never-ending line. Line.310: The influence of manly
qualities lasts longer than the man himself. Lines 312-315:
The names and personal deeds will be forgotten soon. Ex
plain the metaphor in line 315. Lines 316-328: But their
qualities and the principles on which they based their lives
have become the permanent possession of the race. Line 316 :
" Privilege" of character. Peers means "equals." "Privi
lege" (line 316), "leap" (line 317), "validity" (line 320), are
all united in "these" (line 325) as the subject of "are." Line
328: The race is regenerated and ennobled by principles and
qualities such men bequeath to it.

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 249

Line 329: Lowell was much incensed by the statement of
an English paper that the Northern army was "officered by
tailor's apprentices and butcher-boys." The tenth strophe
is directed against this remark, prompted by class prejudice.
Line 332 : The Roundheads were the Puritans, many of them
men of lower class, in the English Revolution against Charles
I. The Cavaliers were the courtiers. What does any one care
now for these class distinctions? Lines 336, 337: Explain
the figure. Lines 339, 340: Lowell names three families that
ruled in Europe for a long time, and became somewhat en
feebled before the end of their dynasties. Line 343: The
"civic wreath" was given to the common soldier in the
Roman army for a certain service. Line 345: "Desert" is
the noun. "Whose" has "brave" (line 344) for its ante
cedent. Line 346: And hears the trumpet shout victory.
Line 347 refers to the article in the English paper, men
tioned above, and the attitude of England during our Civil
War.

Line 349: The last strophe has exhibited some anger
against England, and some pride in our democracy. Line
355 contains the main clause of this periodic sentence.
"Allied" (line 351) modifies "mixture" (line 350). "Re
newed" (line 353) modifies "gratitude" (line 352), as also
does line 354. Notice the marching movement of the first
twenty-three lines of . this stanza. "Martial" (line 358),
"prouder tread" (line 359), "march" (line 363) correspond
with this movement. Lines 365-367: Napoleon would,
perhaps, be an example of such a man. The Commemoration
service was not held for such a person, but for the very
"manhood" of the whole nation. The nation receives from
her children, and gives back to them all they have offered
her. Line 375: See Luke 8:44. The less courageous are

250 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

healed of their infirmity by their love of country. Line 376 :
See line 349. We have a right to patriotic pride. Lines
381ff. : Signs of rejoicing that the result of the war has been
re-union and not dis-union. Line 383: Let the flags dip
and signal. Line 385: A line of joyful signal fires to be kin
dled across the country, from Maine, New Hampshire, and
New York to the Pacific. Line 392: See strophe X, and our
democratic principles. Line 393 : She has a welcome for the
poor of all nations. Line 395 : As it was during the war —
the fire of battle. Line 396: Front means " forehead."
Line 397: Sends the soldiers home to their ordinary work.
Line 401 : ,866 the explanation for the indignation of Lowell
shown in strophe X. How were our differences with England
settled at the close of the Civil War? Line '404: The "chil
dren" are the states, some of which had tried to wander away.
Line 406: See line 410. " Release" from the sufferings of
war; see also " these distempered days." Line 409: Ac
complished the abolition of slavery, which had caused so
much dissension for many years. Lines 411, 412: The lib
erated slaves. Line 413: Emphasize "ours." The nation
is, as in the eleventh strophe, personified as a woman.
Line 416: "Set" lips show little or no red color (see
"pale eclipse"). As they are relaxed, the "rosy" color
appears. Line 421 describes our country. Line 424: Reck
means "care."

V. Find out from the Rhetorical Introduction what an
ode is, and make a statement about its meter, rime, and
stanza-structure. Study the last strophe of this Ode for its
poetic form. Study the sixth.

VI. Read Underwood's account of the delivery of the
poem. Imagine the deep feeling of all the auditors, many of
whom were soldiers, and all of whom had lost dear friends in

JAMES RUSSELL LOWELL 251

the war. These wounds were fresh and bleeding. Think of
Lowell's own bereavement in the death of his three nephews.
Then read the poem aloud, as you think it was read on
the twenty-first of July, 1865.

CHAPTER XVII
OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life and Letters, 2 Vol., by John T. Morse, Jr.; Boston, 1896.

Life, by E. E. Brown; Boston, 1894.

Life, by Walter Jerrold; New York, 1893.

An Appreciation, by Wm. L. Schroeder; London, 1909.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Old Ironsides, The Height of the Ridiculous, The Last Leaf, To
an Insect, The Ballad of the Oysterman, The Deacon's Masterpiece,
Parson Turell's Legacy, Dorothy Q, Grandmother's Story of Bunker
Hill, Memorial Verses for Harvard Commemoration Services, The Iron
Gate.

The Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table.

See Appendix I, titles 76 to 78 inclusive.

THE CHAMBERED NAUTILUS

I. The Autocrat discoursed thus one morning at the
Breakfast-Table :

Did I not say to you a little while ago that the universe swam in an
ocean of similitudes and analogies? I will not quote Cowley. or Burns, or
Wordsworth, just now, to show you what thoughts were suggested to
them by the simplest natural objects, such as a flower or a leaf; but I will
read you a few lines, if you do not object, suggested by looking at a
section of one of those chambered shells to which is given the name of
Pearly Nautilus. We need not trouble ourselves about the distinction
between this and the Paper Nautilus, the Argonauta of the ancients.
The name applied to both shows that each has been compared to a ship,

252

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES

253

as you may see more fully in Webster's Dictionary or the Encyclopedia,
to which he refers. If you' will look into Roget's Bridgewater Treatise,
you will find a figure of one of those shells, and a section of it. The last
will show you the series of enlarging compartments successively dwelt in
by the animal that inhabits the shell, which is built in a widening spiral.
Can you find no lesson in this?

And then the Autocrat read them the poem of five stanzas
which he had composed to show one of the "similitudes and

The Nautilus

Internal structure of the shell

'the

analogies" that helps to make up the ocean in which
universe swims."

Read the poem and study the drawings.

II. Since Holmes has told us so clearly that he wishes to
show us how a spiritual thought may be expressed in a
metaphor relating to the physical world, we should first
study his figures, and develop through them his meaning.
We will use the following outline :

Stanza topics Metaphors

1. The living nautilus. x shell =ship.

2. The broken, abandoned shell.

3. The building of the shell. shell =dwelling.

4. Thanks for the message.

5. The message, or moral. See 3.

254 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

You notice that the first three stanzas describe the mate
rial object, the last one states its analogy in the spiritual
world.

Stanza 1. The first metaphor governs the diction of the
first stanza and two lines of the second. There was an old
belief that this little creature could put out a membrane for a
sail, and ride over the seas like a ship. So " poets have
feigned." Choose all the words brought into these nine
lines because of this metaphor. " Pearl " refers to the beauti
ful, many-colored effect of the inner shell; see "irised" in
line 14; find out from your mythology who Iris was, and
why irised should mean "many-colored." Explain un
shadowed as "unvisited," or "lonely;" why? Why "ven
turous"? On the metaphor which forms the base of the
stanza is superimposed another: the sails are called "wings."
This comparison has always been a common one; our Anglo-
Saxon ancestors used the simile, "a ship likest a bird." The
description of the lovely, mysterious, legend-haunted tropic
seas adds greatly to the beauty of the poem.

Stanza 2. The ship metaphor extends through the first
two lines of stanza 2, in description of the broken, deserted
shell. The remainder of the second stanza and the whole of
the third is governed by the house metaphor; list all the words
that are used in this figure. The "dim, dreaming" life refers
to the low order of nervous development in this creature.
The shell must be broken in order to reveal the internal
structure.

Stanza 3. Make a particularly careful study of the third
stanza. Understand thoroughly before you go on the habit
of the nautilus and the metaphor comparing the enlarging of
the shell to the enlarging of a building.

Stanza 4. The fourth stanza opens with an apostrophe.

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 255

What are the shell and the sea compared to in the second
and third lines? "Dead" refers to the condition described
in stanza 2. The "note" is the "message." For "Triton"
see your mythology. Triton's trumpet was a spiral —
"wreathed" — shell. Other poets have applied the same
epithet to this trumpet: "And hear old Triton blow his
wreathed horn." (Wordsworth.) " Caves " is a figure drawn
from the rocky coast, whither the reference to Triton has
carried us.

Stanza 5. This is the message of the broken shell to the
poet's soul. Its metaphor brings in the words "build,"
"mansions," "low-vaulted," "temple," "dome." The
thought of these lines is a thought of building, and this,
with its metaphor, carries us back to stanza 3, where the
nautilus is spoken of as a builder, preparing for himself each
year a larger dwelling. The sight of this preparation for
growth and larger development admonishes the poet to give
his soul room for constant growth; to make his ideals more
•spacious year by year; to push away the limitations that
shut him down to earth — such limitations as ignorance and
sin. As long as he lives in this world he will be subject to
some limitation — he cannot fully develop here either
mentally or spiritually; but he should make the limitations as
few and as little confining as possible (line 5); and he can
look forward to the time (lines 6 and 7) when these limitations
shall be put off, with the life to which they belong. The last
line returns in its metaphor to the material subject of the
poem — the shell of the nautilus, broken and abandoned,
represents the limitations that belong to this life, outgrown
and left behind.

Think over once more the teaching of the poem. Relate
the last stanza again to the third. Then read again the

256 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

paragraph with which the Autocrat introduced his poem to
the family at the Breakfast-Table. Do you understand now
what he meant?

III. Study line and stanza-structure. Describe the rime-
plan. Go through the poem for alliteration and other devices
for producing melody. Where do you find the best music?
Make a list of the most effective epithets used in the poem.

IV. Read the poem aloud. Try to express with your voice
all you know and feel about it.

THE VOICELESS

I. The Voiceless is another of the poems printed in The
Autocrat of the Breakfast-Table. The paragraph that intro
duces it reads as follows: "Read what the singing women- —
one to ten thousand of the suffering women — tell us, and
think of the griefs that die unspoken! Nature is in earnest
when she makes a woman; and there are women enough
lying in the next church-yard with very common-place blue
slate-stones at their head and feet, for whom it was just as-
true that 'all sounds of life assumed one tone of love/ as for
Letitia Landon, of whom Elizabeth Browning said it; but she
could give words to her grief, and they cannot. — Will you
hear a few stanzas of mine?"

Letitia Elizabeth Landon, better known as L. E. L., was an
English poetess and novelist (1802-1838). Her writings are full
of "gentle melancholy and romantic sentiment." She is a minor
writer, but was admired by the much greater Mrs. Browning.

This poem is an expression of sympathy for those who,
feeling intensely, have no power to express what they feel.
The writer thinks there is material for poetry in every heart,
though many are dumb. The custom of speaking of a poet as

OLIVER WENDELL HOLMES 257

a singer dates back to ancient times, when, since books were
exceedingly rare, the poet chanted his production before an
audience to the accompaniment of the lyre or the harp. The
opposite of the singer, or poet, would be "the voiceless," the
" silent sister," etc.

The first two stanzas compare the singer and the voiceless
in alternating groups of two lines. The third stanza is de
voted entirely to those for whose sake the poem was written.

II. Study the poem in detail. The more difficult lines are
paraphrased or explained below.

Line 1 : Flowers, carefully arranged in the symbolic shape
of a broken lyre, decorate the graves of famous poets; we
linger over them and count these tokens of regard. But the
neglected grave of "the voiceless" is covered only by wild-
flowers, to which no person gives any attention.

Line 12: The "cross" stands for suffering; the "crown"
for the reward of fame and appreciation. Name the figure.

Lines 13, 14: The Greek poetess Sappho (about 600 B. C.)
is said to have thrown herself from the promontory of Leuca-
dia into the sea for love of Phaon, who had rejected her.

Lines 19, 20: Explain the figure.

III. Study the line and stanza construction of the poem.
Go through it also for devices used to produce melody and
harmony.

IV. Read the poem aloud.

CHAPTER XVIII
NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Hawthorne and His Wife, 2 Vol., by Julian Hawthorne; Boston, 1895.

Hawthorne and His Circle, by Julian Hawthorne; New York, 1903.

Memories of Hawthorne, by Rose Hawthorne Lathrop ; Boston, 1897.

A Study of Hawthorne, by G. P. Lathrop; Boston, 1893.

Life, by Henry James, Jr.; New York, 1897.

Hawthorne and His Friends, by F. B. Sanborn; 1908.

Life and Genius, by Frank P. Stearns; Philadelphia, 1906.

Memoir, by "H. A. Page;" London, 1872.

Personal Recollections, by Horatio Bridge; New York, 1893.

Life, by M. D. Conway; New York, 1890.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Grandfather's Chair, Mosses from an Old Manse (I and II), Twice-
Told Tales (I and II), The Snow Image and Other Tales.
See Appendix I, titles 47 to 55 inclusive.

THE GREAT STONE FACE

I. Read the story through with the following outline and
notes. Study with it the picture of the Face.
1. Introduction.

a. The boy.

b. The Valley and its inhabitants.

c. The Face : which is emphasized in the description, the

features or the expression? What does the boy's
feeling for it tell you about it?
258

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 259

d. The prophecy of the Great Man; impression on the
boy.

2. The first "Great Man" - Gathergold.

a. Ernest a boy.

b. His character, under the influence of the Face.

c. Gathergold's career, appearance, and character.

What does the long description of his home tell
about him?

d. Attitude of the people toward him.

e. Feeling of Ernest toward him.

f . The Face renews the prophecy.

3. The second " Great Man" — Blood-and-Thunder.

a. Ernest a young man.

b. The character of Ernest.

c. The character of the second " Great Man."

d. The attitude of the people toward the General.

e. Ernest's feeling for him.

f. The Face speaks to Ernest.

4. The third "Great Man" — Old Stony Phiz.

a. Ernest a man of middle age.

b. The development of his character.

c. The character of Old Stony Phiz.

d. The feeling of the people for the statesman.

e. The feeling of Ernest for him.

f . The Face speaks again to Ernest.

5. The fourth "Great Man" — the Poet.

a. Ernest an old man.

b. His character.

c. The coming of the Poet.

d. The people do not recognize the Poet's work. Why

not?

e. Ernest has expected the Poet to resemble the Face.

260 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Why? Why is this the most bitter disappointment
of all? How does the poet himself explain his
failure?
6. The true " Great Man" discovered.

a. The discourse of Ernest; the source of his power.

b. The Poet discovers the "Great Man." Why should
the Poet be the one to make the discovery?

c. The humility of Ernest.

II. For the kernel of the story, see American Note-Books,
1839. Hawthorne usually has a moral thought in his tales.
In this one he plainly means to teach us that we grow like
that which we constantly watch and admire and meditate
on — to show the influence which the vision of "the Good,
the True, and the Beautiful" may have on character. The
influence of the Face did not make Ernest rich, or powerful,
or famous; but it made him what is far better — a good and
wise man.

III. The story, between the introduction (1 above) and
the conclusion (6 above), is constructed in four parallel parts.
These correspond to four periods in the life of Ernest. The
following chart shows this; and see also 2, 3, 4, 5 above.

a. Life of Ernest.

b. Influence of Face on

Ernest.

c. "Great Man."

d. People receive him.

e. Ernest disappointed.

f. Face reassures him.

Boyhood.

Young
Manhood.

Middle
Life.

Old Age.

Rich man. General. Statesman. Poet.

The six points are discussed in the four parts, except that
d and / are omitted in 5. You would hardly expect the

*li' -at-^-'-H

THE GREAT STONE FACE

NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 261

people to recognize the profound wisdom of a great poet
(d), and 5/ is omitted because the story begins at that point
to prepare for its climax; i. e., the conclusion begins. What
sentence makes the climax of the story?

A writer without skill could easily fail, in four parallel
parts, to make any progress toward his climax. If you follow
each of the six points through the four parts you will readily
see how the story rises constantly, and why the climax must
be where it is. For example, c begins with the rich man;
how little real greatness there is in a selfish miser, though he
may have gathered tons of gold. A good general certainly
gives his country valuable service, though war is greatly to
be deplored. A statesman serves his country honorably in
a more desirable field than war. And a great- poet is the
benefactor, not only of his country, but of his race. Here we
can plainly see progress in the story. The climax goes one
step farther, and places the wise and good man above even
the poet. Go through the other five points and show how
the plot rises through them also toward the climax. The
suspense is made by the successive disappointments of
Ernest.

IV. General Questions.

1. Is it the features or the expression of the Face that the
Great Man is to resemble? What do the people look for?
What does Ernest look for? Study the prophecy in the
introduction, and the comparison made by Ernest of each
man to the Face. Why do not the people recognize Ernest
as the man of prophecy? Why does the poet recognize him?

2. Why is not Ernest mistaken when every one else is?

3. Make a list of all the names of persons used in this
story, and explain the meaning of each. The suggestiveness
of the proper names gives the tale an allegorical tone. Lang-

262 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

land, Spenser, and Bunyan, the great writers of allegory in
English, use names descriptive of character.

4. Find passages in this story where Hawthorne uses
irony — or perhaps something even as stinging as sarcasm.

5. With the structure of this story compare that of David
Swan by the same author.

THE AMBITIOUS GUEST

I. Read the tale thoughtfully.

II. The unity of effect in this tale is as good as it is in any
of Poe's. The proper atmosphere is given it by the setting.
Discuss the location and the weather. Go through the story
from the first paragraph to the climax, and list every reference
to avalanches and dismal sounds. Put Avith these all allu
sions, in the writer's exposition and in the conversation of the
characters, to impending fate, to disaster, and to death.
Notice how these expressions of foreboding increase in fre
quency and force to the climax. In the paragraph that ends
with the shriek of terror, the words gain in power, as they
should do as the story approaches its climax. After the
climax, quiet, calm sentences "intimate," because no words
can adequately "portray," the overwhelming horror of the
catastrophe.

III. The persons of this story are the center of interest;
the narrative interests us as it affects them. Hawthorne
opens his story with them, because characterization is his
chief purpose in the tale. Are they individuals, or types?
Are the words and wishes of each suited to his age and station?
Are any of the wishes fulfilled in their death? Study par
ticularly the nameless stranger, who is more complex of
character than the simple mountaineers. "The secret of
his character" is clearly explained by Hawthorne, and also

. NATHANIEL HAWTHORNE 263

by the young man himself. This young man gives the moral
thought to the tale. His was the only ambitious soul there;
and his was the double tragedy — death and oblivion. The
simple, unambitious family are known by name, and the
scene of their death is pointed out to every traveller through
the White Mountains. But the "high-souled youth, with
his dream of earthly immortality! His name and person
utterly unknown; his history, his way of life, his plans, a
mystery never to be solved; his death and his existence
equally a doubt!" Whose indeed was the agony of death?

Hawthorne founded this story on an actual event. See Spaulding's
Historical Relics of the White Mountains. ''Some time in June, before
the great slide in August, 1826, there came a great storm, and the old
veteran, Abel Crawford, coming down the Notch, noticed the trees
slipping down, standing upright, and as he was passing Mr. Willey's he
called and informed him of the wonderful fact. Immediately, in a less
exposed place, Mr. Willey prepared a shelter to which to flee in case
of immediate danger, and in the night of August 28 in that year he
was, with his whole family, awakened by the thundering crash of the
coming avalanche. Attempting to escape, the family, nine in number,
rushed from the house and were overtaken and buried alive under a
vast pile of rocks, earth, and water. By a remarkable coincidence, the
house remained uninjured, as the slide divided about four rods back
of the house, against a high flat rock, and came down on either side with
overwhelming power."

CHAPTER XIX
SIDNEY LANIER

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Memorial, by Wm. Hayes Ward, in Poems. New York, 1900.
Life, by Edwin Mims; Boston, 1905.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Clover, Corn, The Waving of the Corn, The Mocking Bird, The
Revenge of Hamish, The Stirrup-Cup, My Springs, The Symphony,
How Love Looked for Hell.

THE SONG OF THE CHATTAHOOCHEE

I. This poem is a description of the course of a river that
rises in the mountains of Georgia, passes in its upper course
through the counties of Hall and Habersham, and flows
through the lowlands into the Gulf of Mexico.

II. The movement of the poem is rippling and animated, as
befits the song of a mountain stream. The stanzas contain
ten lines each, the first two and the last two having three
accents each, and the intermediate six having four accents
each. The foot has sometimes one unaccented syllable,
sometimes two, the two very short ones occupying the same
time as the one longer one. The effect is good, for it makes
the alternately rippling and flowing movement of the stream
in the uplands. Irregularity in meter and reversal of ac
cent help to produce a rippling effect. The movement is

264

SIDNEY LANIER 265

suggested also by the pauses at the end of lines, by the occa
sional run-on lines, and by a few rather abrupt pauses within
the lines (27, 28). Most of the internal pauses harmonize
the movement of the poem to the thought, the writer enumer
ating the obstacles and hindrances in the path of the stream.
(Stanzas 2, 3, 4.) The long vowel in " abide" and the pause
between the repetitions retard the movement of the poem,
and suit it to the movement of the stream. Note also line
28. Retard is necessary for careful articulation in "grass
said Stay."

III. The melody of the poem is smooth and flowing, a
large proportion of the consonants being liquids or spirants.
There is a great deal of alliteration, and some of it is double.
This helps in the rippling movement. (Find examples.)
The explosives, also, are so used as to add to the rippling
effect; see particularly line 5.

IV. The rime is abcbcddcab. The final cab is identical in
wording with the initial abc; ab is identical throughout the
poem. Internal rime occurs in the third line of every stanza,
in the eighth line of most of them, and in the sixth line of the
last. This repetition of sound helps to make the rippling
movement. Similar is the effect of riming "glades" —
"shades "(lines 29-30).

V. The movement of the last stanza is slower than that of
the first four, as the river anticipates its slower movement on
the plain. The pauses after "avail" and "downward," and
the spondee in "fiields burn," with the medial pause in the
same line, and the great number of long vowels and final
spirants throughout the stanza, retard the flow of verse.
This corresponds to the deeper seriousness of the fifth stanza,
in which the poet turns from mere artistic pleasure in the
beauty of nature to consideration of the activities of human

266 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

life. The presence of the word "Duty" in the stanza gives
it a different note.

VI. Observe how the poet has obtained variety in the
"application" of the refrain at the beginning and at the end
of each stanza. See Poe's theory of the refrain, quoted in the
study of Longfellow's My Lost Youth.

VII. Prepare to read the poem aloud. Think, as you read,
of the course of the river and of its movement in its bed —
alternately rippling and flowing.

Compare Tennyson's The Brook, with its short lines, frequent
pauses, onomatopoetic words, abundant alliteration, and extra short
syllable at the end of lines 2 and 4 of each stanza. Which poem
speaks more of the sound made by the stream? What differences
in diction and form depend on imitations of sound and of movement?

TAMPA ROBINS

I. The poem personifies the robin, and represents him as
defying, from his safe refuge in a Florida orange-tree, the
northern winter.

II. Study the following details of the poem.
Line 2 : Explain the words of defiance.

Line 4 : What are the oranges called metaphorically?

Line 5: Think of "Time" as personified in the figure of an
old man with a scythe over his shoulder.

Line 6: What joys does the robin find in his Florida home?

Line 7: Refer "globes" to line 4. The "globe" suggests
a metaphor taken from astronomy. What is the "leafy
sky"? What are the oranges called, in metaphor, in line 8?
In line 9? Why is the robin metaphorically a "meteor"?
Line 10 refers to the ancient superstitious fear of meteors.
Refer "heavenly" in line 11 to "sky" in line 7. The path of

SIDNEY LANIER 267

the robin ("meteor") is an "orbit" (line 12). What trail
does he leave behind him, as he flies about in the tree?

Line 13: The leafless trees of the North are as bare and
unattractive as " gibbets." "Grave" harmonizes in tone
with "gibbet," and so do "slave" and "tyranny." In line
18 the robin again defies the stormy North. The color con
trast between the sunny South (stanza 2) and the cold,
desolate, gray-white North (stanza 3) is effective.

Line 20: "King" contrasts with "slave" above.

Line 21: The "torch" (metaphor) of the robin's breast is a
reflection of sun-light.

Line 22: "Green" and "gold" of what?

Line 23 : See line 5 above.

III. The poem consists of four six-line stanzas, riming
aabbcc. There are four accents in each line, and one or two
unaccented syllables in a foot. The movement is iambic.
The many liquids and sibilants make a smooth melody.
Find examples of alliteration. Find one example of internal
rime. The poem is animated and gay, except lines 13 to 16,
which are cold and sombre. Line 15 particularly, by spondee,
cross-assonance of long vowels, and alliteration of gutturals,
harmonizes the movement to the thought.

IV. Throw yourself into the gay, saucy, defiant spirit of
the robin, and read the poem aloud. Bring out clearly all the
sound effects you have studied under III.

THE MARSHES OF GLYNN

I. The poet is describing the salt marshes of Glynn County,
Georgia, on the coast near the city of Brunswick.

He has spent the day in the live-oak forest, and has been
refreshed in the noon-tide heat by its shade (lines 12, 19-21,

268 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

25). As twilight comes on (lines 21, 22) he steps out into the
open marshes (lines 22-25, 35^7), and faces eastward
(lines 55, 56), toward a world of marsh, and sea, and sky.
For some reason his heart is troubled (lines 15, 17, 26-28, 63,
69, 70) ; he needs the comfort and the inspiration that Nature
can give those who truly love her. And Nature teaches him
her lesson and offers him her consolation. From "the length
and the breadth and the sweep" of the marsh and the sea,
there comes to him a sense of infinity (lines 71-78). Their
beauty, their vastness, "nothing-withholding and free,"
speak to him of the omnipresence, the omnipotence, and the
benevolence — the "greatness" — of the Infinite Spirit that
pervades the universe. The tide comes in ;

The sea and the marshes are one. (Line 94.)

The poet feels and believes in (line 29) the harmony and the
perfect oneness of the universe and its Creator. The tide
reaches its height (line 95); night falls (line 98). Peace has
flowed into and over the troubled soul, as the sea has covered
the Marshes of Glynn; and the poet goes home (line 100) to
rest and sleep.

II., Make a statement about the character of the thought
in this poem. Then show how the style harmonizes with the
thought in the following particulars : —

1. Diction: choice of nouns; of verbs; of adjectives; epi
thets, poetic-compounds, color-words, words indicating light
and shade; contrast of the dusky forest, the green marshes,
and the silvery beach; other methods of description.

2. Sentences: structure; length.

3. Figures: simile; metaphor; apostrophe; personification.

4. Versification: stanza or paragraph; rime; meter, use of
spondee; effect of long and short lines; pauses; run-on lines.

SIDNEY LANIER 269

5. Melody: use of liquids and spirants; alliteration;
assonance; internal rime.

6. Harmony: repetition; onomatopoea; other harmonic
effects.

III. With lines 30-34 compare Lanier's From the Flats.
Evidently the low coast did not always inspire poetic exalta
tion in Lanier's soul. For the influence of the marshes on
Lanier, one should read also Marsh Song — at Sunset, and
Sunrise. The sunrise brings the poet strength and courage,
as the sunset brings him peace.

Is the last paragraph of the poem in perfect harmony with
the rest? Should you prefer to close with the line

And it is night?

Does the poet do well to remind us that his peace is, after all
not too profound; that underneath it lie the uncertainties that
belong to all discussion of and meditation on the problems of
life? Should he show us that he has attained peace and self-
control while facing with courage and strength the fact that
he does not — cannot — know below the surface? Or would
it be better here to end with the peace, and ignore the igno
rance he could not enlighten? Which method would end the
poem most effectively? There would have been nothing false
to life in the omission of the last paragraph, for there occa
sionally come to men moods in which faith is, for the time,
absolute, and doubt and uncertainty are forgotten. Such a
mood Wordsworth has expressed in T intern Abbey:

that blessed mood,
In which the burden of the mystery,
In which the heavy and the weary weight
Of all this unintelligible world,
Is lightened: — that serene and blessed mood,

270 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

In which the affections gently lead us on,
Until, the breath of this corporeal frame
And even the motion of our human blood
Almost suspended, we are laid asleep
In body and become a living soul :
While with an eye made quiet by the power
Of harmony, and the deep power of joy,
We see into the life of things.

Was Lanier's such a mood? Has he used in the course of
the poem expressions that would lead you to suppose it was?
Is there any suggestion of the grotesque in the last lines?
Do you feel that they are in any way out of harmony with
the rest of the poem?

IV. Do you consider this poem strong in rhetorical effects?
Do these devices distract you from the thought? Do you
think a simpler style would be better for the expression of a
thought so vast and sublime? Would you prefer a different
meter? Bryant has expressed sublime thoughts in simpler
and more stately verse ; do you think he has suited his expres
sion to his thought better than Lanier? As well?

V. Read the poem aloud. Make the thought as forcible as
possible. Bring out the music of the lines.

CHAPTER XX
WALT WHITMAN

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Whitman, 2 Vol., by Horace Traubel; Boston, 1905.

Walt Whitman, by Thos. Donaldson; New York, 1896.

Reminiscences, by W. S. Kennedy; Philadelphia, 1896.

Life, by R. M. Bucke; Philadelphia, 1883.

Walt Whitman, by Wm. Clarke; New York, 1892.

A Study of Whitman, by John Burroughs; Boston, 1896.

Whitman, A Study, by John Addington Symonds; London, 1893.

An Approach to Walt Whitman, by Carleton Noyes; Boston, 1910.

Life, by Bliss Perry; Boston, 1906.

Life, by George Rice Carpenter; New York, 1909.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

A careful selection of Whitman's poems should be made for young
people. There is a volume by Oscar L. Triggs (Boston, 1898), another
by E. Holmes (London and New York, 1902), and yet another by Wm.
M. Rossetti (London, 1895).

O CAPTAIN! MY CAPTAIN!

I. Whitman was a nurse and attendant in the hospitals of
the Civil War. His best work for the sick and wounded
soldiers is said to have been his ministration to their lonely
hearts. He had the tenderness and thoughtfulness of a
woman. The chronicle of his life from 1862 to the end of the
War is one of great and unselfish devotion. Whitman, there
fore, though not a soldier himself, had a right to feel toward

271

272 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

the Commander-in-chief of the Northern armies as the
soldiers felt. He had seen President Lincoln, and recognized
in him the great man the whole nation has since learned to
know and honor. See Whitman's prose works, particularly
Specimen Days. The best of the poems in honor of Lincoln
were written by this then obscure hospital attendant.

II. 0 Captain! My Captain! is a lamentation for the death
of Lincoln. The poem is constructed entirely in metaphor,
conceiving the nation under the image of a ship. The ship
has safely arrived in port after a stormy, dangerous voyage;
and amid all the rejoicing and congratulations, the Captain,
to whom is due the credit for the safety of the ship, has fallen
dead on the deck. As Lincoln was killed just at the close of
the Civil War, the figure is an excellent and appropriate one.
One remembers, too, that the same metaphor was used for
the nation in the last paragraph of Longfellow's Building 0}
the Ship, and that President Lincoln listened to that passage
in silence, with tearful eyes. (See Scribner's Monthly,
August, 1879, "Lincoln's Imagination," by Noah Brooks.)
This fact gives the figure an almost sacred significance in
the poem which laments the untimely death of the great
President.

III. The poem has also great beauty of movement and
melody. In April, 1865, the nation was divided in feeling be
tween joy over the successful end of the war and sorrow for
the death of the President. The first four lines of the first two
stanzas are of descriptive character; they give an account of
the entrance of the ship into port, and express the nation's joy
at the safety of the ship. These lines are long and smooth —
7xa. The last four lines of these stanzas are short and broken;
they express the deep distress of the poet at the death of the
Captain. After the passion of grief expressed in the latter

WALT WHITMAN 273

part of the first two stanzas, the poet masters himself with the
restraint of a strong man, and utters in the last stanza the
abiding sorrow that tempers and sobers the exultation of
the victor. .

IV. Try to imagine yourself back in 1865. You have often
seen Lincoln, and have felt his tenderness and greatness.
You love as well as admire him. You are glad that the Union
is preserved, but you mourn the death of the President. Read
the poem, and show your emotions in your reading.

WHEN LILACS LAST IN THE DOCKYARD BLOOM'D

I. This is Whitman's burial hymn for Lincoln. The Presi
dent was killed in Washington, on April 14, 1865, and his
body was taken for burial to Springfield, Illinois. The
particulars of the assassination and the account of the passage
of the funeral train through the country may be read in any
biography of Lincoln. The following brief account, taken
from Butterworth's History of America, tells all that it is
necessary to know in reading this poem. " The sad procession
moved on its long journey of nearly two thousand miles,
traversing the states of Maryland, Pennsylvania, New Jersey,
New York, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois. Everywhere, as the
funeral train passed, the weeping people sought to give
expression to their reverential sorrow. At the great cities
the body lay in state, and all business was suspended." *

The poet begins his funeral chant in great sorrow; but,
through meditation and the healing power of Nature, he
regains serenity and cheerfulness.

For Whitman's attitude toward death see: Assurances,
Whispers of Heavenly Death, Song of Myself (sections 6, 48),

* Used by permission of Estes and Lauriat.

274 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Joy, Shipmate, Joy, and Out of the Cradle Endlessly Rock
ing.

II. The central figure of the poem is The Man (stanzas 1, 5,
6, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16); because of the occasion, Death is the
burden of the thought (stanzas 7, 14, 15). Three objects of
nature are associated with the occasion: the lilac (stanzas
1, 3, 6 (end), 7, 13, 16); the star (stanzas 1, 2, 8, 9, 13, 16);
and the bird (stanzas 4, 9, 13, 14, 15, 16).

III. Read the poem carefully with the following notes:
Line 1 : Lilacs are in bloom in April in Washington.

Line 4: The "trinity" are named in the next two lines.

Line 7 : The " star " of the west, in figure, is Lincoln, though
we must understand that the poet has in mind, in the poem,
an actual star as well. The "murk" is, in figure, death; the
"cruel hands" and the "cloud" are the atmosphere of
grief.

Line 12: Whitman shows his reverence for nature in his
description of the lilac-bush.

Line 19: The hermit thrush is one of the most timid of
birds, as well as one of the most musical.

Line 24 : The poet needs the relief of expression as much as
the bird does.

Line 26 : This stanza and the next describe the route of the
funeral train through the country and through the cities, and
mention the honor everywhere paid the body of the martyred
President. Services were held along the route, as the train
passed. Line 45 goes back to line 17.

Line 46: Whitman turns from the death of one to the
thought of death as the fate of all. What adjectives does he
apply to death in line 48?

Line 55: Whitman remembers that he had had, a month
ago, while watching the evening star, premonitions of trouble

WALT WHITMAN 275

and disaster. The disappearance of the star (lines 63-65) is
again symbolic (see lines 7-9) of the death of Lincoln.

Line 66 : See stanza 4.

Line 75 : Springfield is thought of as near the center of the
country. Lines 74-77 answer line 73. In spirit the poet is at
the tomb.

Line 78: The decoration of the tomb is the poet's next
theme. The pictures he mentions (lines 81-89) are national.
They represent all parts of the land — country and city;
every class and every occupation. Why is this appropriate?
Line 90: Whitman's home was New York. All the beauty
of our varied and beautiful earth and sky should be pictured
on the tomb of the great President, who worked to keep us a
united nation.

Line 99: See stanza 9.

Line 106: See line 70.

Line 108: The poet surveys the whole country, and finds
that the shadow of death darkens everywhere, that no class
or age or station is exempt from it.

Lines 120-122: Name the three "companions" holding
hands in the night. What is the thought that drives the
poet out into the night?

Line 126: See stanzas 13, 9, 4.

Line 127: See line 120.

Line 133: See line 122.

Lines 135-162: These are the thoughts that the song of the
thrush in the darkness inspires in the poet. List the adjec
tives used to describe Death. What names is she called?
What is the poet's attitude toward her? Whitman believed
that everything natural is right, wise, and wholesome. Death
is natural; therefore he chants a song of praise to Death.

Line 163: See line 134.

276 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Line 164: See line 126.

Line 166: See line 130.

Line 168: See lines 120-122.

Lines 170-184: The poet sees in imagination the panorama
of war and death, which he has so often seen in reality.
What comforting reflection does he find in all this painful
picture (lines 180, 181)?

Line 185: The visions of stanza 15. "Passing" by in
thought. Line 186: See line 122. Line 187: See line 134.
Line 188: See line 24. Line 193: See line 13. Lines 195-
197: See line 70. As the end of the poem approaches, the
poet gathers up his material — the bird, the lilac, the star.
Line 200: See line 134. Line 201: See line 61. Line 202:
See line 133. Line 203: See line 122. Notice the return to
the personal in lines 203-204.

What has the poet "to keep" (line 198) out of this night's
visions and revelations?

IV. Whitman has certain peculiarities of style which must
be understood in a measure before one can read his poems
successfully.

1. He uses broken sentence-structure and exclamation to
express intense feeling. For examples see stanzas 2 and 13.
We have found the same use of broken sentences in 0 Cap
tain!

2. He makes long series of phrases and clauses in parallel
structure, usually for the purpose of cataloguing in descrip
tion. Find examples in stanzas 5, 6, 8, 11, 14.

3. These series sometimes form very long periodic sen
tences. See stanzas 5, 6, 14, 16.

4. Instead of the conventional poetic line made up of a
certain number of feet with regularly arranged accents,
Whitman often uses a rhythmic, swinging chant. The

WALT WHITMAN 277

phrases or clauses should be read rather rapidly, as the units
of the composition, and the pauses should be clearly and
fully marked. In reading, have in mind the phrasing and
the monotone of the musical chant, and give the poetry the
same movement.

In some of Whitman's poems he exaggerates his manner
isms offensively; but in this funeral hymn the chant is most
appropriate. It is used effectively also in Out of the Cradle
Endlessly Rocking, and in a number of the other of his best
poems.

OUT OF THE CRADLE ENDLESSLY ROCKING

I. This poem was first called A Child's Reminiscences. It
is an account of Whitman's earliest conscious, strong poetic
impulse. The boy lived in a small town on Long Island,
which he calls by its Indian name, Paumanok. The circum
stances under which his soul was so deeply touched we learn
from the poem.

II. Read the poem carefully with these notes.

Lines 1-22 give the circumstances under which the man
recalls the experience and writes the reminiscence (lines 20-
22). Line 1: "The cradle endlessly rocking" is the sea.
Line 3: At what time of year does Whitman revisit his old
home? When does he go down to the beach to muse? Line 4 :
The child he remembers had gone out in the night, too.
Line 11: The bird-notes recall the bird-song of earlier days
(lines 8, 9) . The paragraph is composed of one of Whitman's
long series, and the main part is at the end; it is a periodic
sentence. "I, a man, sing a reminiscence out of all" these
things, which bring to memory my boyhood experience in the
same scene.

Line 23 begins the reminiscence. Line 24 gives the time

278 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

of the experience. Lines 23-31 tell of the boy's love for and
interest in the birds. Lines 32-40 give the song of the male
bird; he shows his happiness in his union with his mate by the
repetition of "we two."

Lines 41-45 tell of the disappearance of the female. Lines
46-129 show the loneliness of her mate through the remainder
of the season, and the boy's sympathy with the bird. Line
62: "Has treasured" them because they taught him so
much (line 69). The poet "translates" the bird's song into
English words.

Lines 130ff. describe the scene in which the boy hears the
bird's song of "lonesome love." The "fierce old mother"
is the sea. With line 135 compare line 10; the scene of the
boy's experience is identical with the scene of the man's
reverie.

Line 136 turns to the effect of the scene and the song on the
boy. Line 139: See line 18. The trio (line 140) are the
bird, the sea, and the boy's questioning soul. Line 142:
Whitman, receiving his first poetic impulse. Line 144:
Demon has its old meaning, "spirit." Lines 146-149:
The poetic spirit of the boy is awakened by the scene, the
music, and the emotion. Line 151: In his poetry. Line
153: The cries he heard from the bird. Line 154: See lines
146, 147. Line 155: See line 135. Lines 156, 157: The
"divine fire" of poetic inspiration. Line 160: He wants the
clue to the unknown longing (line 157). The word is given
in line 169. Line 169: The first time "the knowledge of
death" and "the thought of death" came to the boy per
sonally and powerfully must have been with the loss of the
bird. Line 170: See line 140. Line 175: "Demon," see
line 143. Line 176: See line 134. Line 177: He has heard the
same song many times since in the world. See line 12.

WALT WHITMAN 279

Line 178: This was the beginning of his poetic inspiration.
Lines 179-183: See lines 165-169 and 14.

III. The poem draws material from nature — the sea,
the bird, the moonlight scene. These are brought into con
nection with humanity, teaching the boy's soul the great
secret of existence — Death. Compare this with the in
fluence of the lilac, the star, the bird on the man who wrote
the burial hymn for Lincoln, and reached, through the song
of the thrush, serenity and cheerfulness in the presence of
death. In both poems the listener gives articulate language
to the bird's song — " translates " it. In Out of the Cradle
Endlessly Rocking the bird sings him a song of unsatisfied
love (line 153) ; the boy's questioning soul demands the clue
to this mystery of life (line 158); and the sea whispers him
the final word, superior to all (line 161): the word that
names the condition in which all mysteries shall be made
manifest and all longings shall be satisfied. The poem is
important as giving an account of the beginning of conscious
poetic inspiration in Whitman. For Whitman's attitude
toward death, see again the references given in the study of
When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloom' d. Make a list of the
adjectives applied to death in this poem, and compare them
with those used in other poems.

IV. Refer to the list of Whitman's peculiarities of style
given in the study of When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard
Bloom'd, and illustrate each item from this poem.

V. Read the poem aloud. Remember that Whitman has
written a rhythmic chant, not a poem in conventional meter.

CHAPTER XXI
RALPH WALDO EMERSON

REFERENCE BIOGRAPHIES

Life, by George Willis Cooke; Boston, 1881

Life, by O. W. Holmes; Boston, 1886.

Life, by Richard Garnett; London, 1888.

Life and Works, by Elizabeth L. Gary; New York, 1904.

Emerson, by John S. Harrison; New York, 1910.

Emerson, by F. B. Sanborn; Boston, 1885.

Life, by George E. Woodberry; New York, 1907.

SUPPLEMENTARY READING

Voluntaries (1863), Terminus, Threnody, Dirge, The Apology, The
Humble-Bee, Fable, Concord Hymn, Boston Hymn, The Rhodora, The
Snow-Storm, Each and All, Woodnotes I.

Representative Men, Nature, The Over-Soul.

See also Appendix I, titles 40 to 46 inclusive.

SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE STUDY OF EMERSON'S ESSAYS

Emerson's purpose is not so much to think a subject through for
his readers and give them the result of his meditation as it is to
startle them into thinking for themselves. This his style is pecu
liarly fitted to do. He does not "look at both sides of a question,"
and load his sentences with clauses qualifying the main statement;
rather he throws at the reader a strong assertion, so one-sided that
at first it almost provokes contradiction. His purpose being to
stimulate thought, he could use no better device. His short, pointed
sentences rouse the mind to vigorous action. Another effect of his

280

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 281

short sentences is that when he writes, in different essays or in
different parts of the same essay, on different phases of a subject, he
seems to contradict himself. As we read him, we are always to un
derstand that we are looking at his theme from one angle only. He
looks out upon society and sees a tendency to bend too far in one
direction; he declares strongly for a bias in the opposite direction;
and the resultant is a perpendicular — the correct position, and the
one he really desires and expects to obtain. We cannot choose a
sentence expressing in his strong fashion a one-sided opinion, and
say, " Emerson thought thus or so." We must make a composite
picture of his utterances on a subject. We shall then find him well-
balanced, temperate, and reasonable.

Since Emerson's purpose is to put strongly one side or phase of a
subject, we can readily see that his essays do not outline as easily as
those of a more formal writer, who regards his subject, in an orderly
and logical fashion, first on one side, then on another, from every
angle and point of view. Neither could they be studied as models
of coherence. Words of transition are conspicuously wanting, and
the progress and connection of his thought is not always immedi
ately apparent. These characteristics, also, tax the reader's powers
of interpretation and stimulate his mind.

Statements of abstract truths must be illustrated by examples,
stories, anecdotes, etc., that they may become not only more clear
but more vital. Frequently Emerson does this for the reader; when
he does not, the reader should do it for himself.

The studies suggested here assume that the student is provided
with an annotated text, which gives him sufficient help on allusions;
the notes and questions here will not then, as a rule, mention allu
sions to mythology, history, biography, etc. The student is ex
pected to explain also, without special question, the figures and
comparisons used by the author. If he will note carefully the sources
from which they are drawn, he will learn much of the mind and
scholarship of Emerson. He should study also, without further
question, every sentence in its relation to the general thought. The
expression is often so unique that, without careful attention, a

282 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

sentence is nothing but empty words. Sometimes the key to the
sentence is in some peculiarity of diction.

Since Emerson's purpose is moral, since he is trying to uplift
the heart and mind he touches, since the sphere of his thought
is common and universal human life, the student should con
stantly illustrate and test the author's assertions from his own
observation and experience of life. And he should memorize
daily a sentence worth remembering for its influence on practical
living.

FRIENDSHIP

Paragraphs 1,2: Human beings feel more kindness for one
another than they express.

Do you think Emerson is right? Illustrate your opinion
from your experience. Do you know any persons who do not
agree with Emerson? What effect has the opinion of such a
man on his disposition?

Paragraph 3: We exert ourselves to show friendliness
and hospitality.

Does Emerson describe correctly our preparations for a
guest? Have you ever had his experience with a stranger
whom you hoped to make a friend?

Paragraphs 4-6: We are drawn to friends by the mutual
affinity of the best that is in us, and friendship is the source
of the most beautiful emotions we can feel.

Examine your friendships : do you find them, as Emerson
found his, based on moral and intellectual comradeship?
Do you find in them the beauty and joy he found in his?
Are you as appreciative and generous toward your friends
as he is toward his? Do you think his ideal is too
high?

Paragraphs 7-10 : We idealize our friends — perhaps un-

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 283

reasonably; and lose them because they do not satisfy the
ideal we have made.

Doubt (paragraph 7) means " suspect." If we cannot offer
perfection to our friends, have we a right to expect them to
be perfect? Do we learn to know our friends at their best in
a short time?

Paragraphs 11, 12: Real friendship permits — even de
mands — perfect sincerity.

Can you show your true self to your friends? Do you feel
enough confidence in them to wish to know their true
selves?

Paragraph 13: Friendship implies disinterested love and
service.

Illustrate this phase of friendship from your observation
or reading.

Paragraphs 14, 15: The best conversation can occur only
between two congenial persons.

Is Emerson right in limiting the number to twol Can you
explain why two can converse better than three? Why can
you converse with some persons and not with others?

Paragraphs 16, 17: Friendship does not demand absolute
likeness, nor perfect agreement in opinion; it demands
individuality and sincerity.

Does Emerson express your opinion in paragraph 16?
Do you wish your friends to treat your individuality as Emer
son recommends in paragraph 17? If so, is it fair that you
should respect theirs? Does this mean that you must be
blind to a friend's faults?

Paragraph 18: Friendship does not intrude nor demand
too much.

Does Emerson describe here a friendship less personal and
more purely intellectual than you would enjoy? Would a

284 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

more personal attitude necessarily imply lack of respect or
" reverence"?

Paragraphs 19, 20: We need time to show our best nature
to those we would have for friends.

Have you had the experience Emerson mentions in para
graph 19? When (paragraph 20) can men become true
friends? What men can become true friends? Does Emerson
here contradict paragraphs 16, 17?

Paragraph 21. The ideal friendship seems beyond attain
ment in this world; yet we cannot afford to let ourselves
decline to any one lower than the highest.

Define "God;" "demonstrate."

Paragraphs 22, 23 : We cannot afford to be too dependent
on our friends.

Does Emerson mean to say that books, and travel, and
society are of no value? What is the danger of too much
society? See also paragraph 16.

Paragraph 24: A real friendship may be one-sided; even
if the object is unworthy, the feeling exalts the one who
experiences it.

Should you enjoy such a friendship as is here described?
Do the thoughts expressed in the last three sentences belong
to your ideal of friendship?

Write a paragraph expressing in your own words Emerson's ideal
of friendship. Write another which shall express your own.

HEROISM

Paragraphs 1-4: Introduction. Paragraphs 1, 2: Heroism
as shown in literature; paragraphs 3, 4: Our need of such
pictures.

How does the quotation from The Triumph of Honor

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 285

illustrate the statement of Emerson? Illustrate from your
own reading. Have we in ordinary life any need of heroism?
Can you mention more instances than Emerson has put into
paragraphs 3 and 4?

Paragraph 5: Some characteristics of heroism.

Find all the characteristics of heroism mentioned here.
Does Emerson state any of them in too extreme a fashion?
Think of some heroic action — as the defence of the Greeks
at Thermopylae — and test these characteristics by that.
Why does Emerson put feeling above reason? Discuss this
principle as worked out concretely in a story named "Greater
Love," in Harper's Magazine for April, 1908. (See Appen
dix II.) Do you wish to add to or subtract from Emerson's
statement?

Paragraphs 6, 7 : Heroism makes a man despise popularity
and pleasure.

Illustrate paragraph 6 from your knowledge of history and
biography. Why should this be the law of society? Has
Emerson made a perfectly accurate line of division in para
graph 7? Do all heroic men scorn pleasure?

Paragraph 8 : The heroic man offers a simple and generous
hospitality.

Why should this topic be included in this essay?

Paragraphs 9, 10: The heroic man gives no attention to
trifles; he concentrates on the essential.

May one make plainness of dress and living as burden
some as extravagance? What does the quotation from Eliot
illustrate? What did tlje conduct of David mean? Why
" better still"?

Paragraph 11: The heroic man is cheerful.

Illustrate this statement from your observation or reading.
Can you give any examples that contradict it? Is the

286 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

"martyr air" agreeable or becoming? Is it affectation to
pretend to do hard tasks easily? Does a heroic soldier ever
feel afraid?

Paragraph 12: The heroic appeals to us in proportion as
we are capable of becoming heroic.

Do you ever feel that "all virtue is the past's"? Think
over the environment in which the ordinary person is placed,
and mention opportunities for the- sort of heroism Emerson
means. Do you know any examples of men who have lived
heroically in sordid surroundings? ' .

Paragraph 13 : Intellectual promise and ambition produce
nothing without heroic determination and independence.

What quality is more necessary than mere intellect for a
leader of men? What "new and unattempted problem"
has each person to solve? In what good sense does Emerson
use the words "decided," "proud," "careless," "wilful,"
" lofty"? Are they generally used in a complimentary sense?

Paragraph 14 : The heroic man is persistent and consistent.

Is Emerson advising you to stick to your determination
even when you know you are mistaken? Or to be peculiar
for the sake of being peculiar? Is there any virtue in doing
things simply because we are afraid to, or because they are
unpleasant to us? An aunt of Emerson's used to say to him,
"Always do what you are afraid to do."

Paragraph 15: A heroic man accepts even his own blunders
philosophically.

Should we care nothing for the impression we make on
others? Is our vanity responsible for our discomfort when
we are conscious that we have made a poor appearance? Is
it a good thing to cultivate "sensitiveness"?

The last sentence suggests that we refrain from doing those
things that we find disagreeable in other persons.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 287

Paragraph 16: Heroism requires us to face the disagreeable
circumstances of life.

Where in this essay have you already found this doctrine
stated and illustrated? Give names of heroes who illustrate
Emerson's last sentence in this paragraph.

Paragraphs 17-19: There is opportunity to cultivate her
oism in every-day life.

This essay was published in 1841. What opportunity had
an American then to be heroic? What opportunity has he
now? Do you read of any heroes in the daily papers? Do
you think that the past offered greater opportunities than
the present offers?

Write a short paper on A Hero or A Heroine. You may choose a
historical character whom you admire, or a person from your own
acquaintance, or you may sketch an ideal character for some field
of activity in your own generation. But discuss the character in
such a way as to make prominent the heroic qualities.

CHARACTER

Paragraph 1: Character defined.

Find the sentence in which Emerson defines character; ex
plain what he means by " directly," " without means." Have
you called this force by some other name than character?
Have you ever met persons that were greater than their
words or works? Socrates and Joan of Arc claimed to be
guided by a "familiar," or ''genius," or spirit. Give examples
of your own to show the difference that existed between
Hercules and Theseus.

Paragraph 2: Character is needed in the political world.

Give examples of men in the political world who have
"character;" examples of those who have it not. What do

288 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

you imagine a man of character doing in office? How does
the country feel toward such men?

Paragraph 3: Character counts in the commercial world.

What more than honesty is intended here? Think over
the list of " Captains of Industry": do they seem to you
"born to succeed"?

Paragraph 4 : A man of character masters other men.

Illustrate this statement by examples from your reading
or observation.

Paragraph 5 : Truth is the basis of character.

What is meant here by " Truth"? Compare Heroism,
paragraph 13. Have you found truth and justice as powerful
among men as Emerson says they are?

Paragraph 6: Character makes a man independent of
externals — of circumstances, environment, fear, etc.

Does the fact stated in the first sentence naturally follow
that discussed in paragraph 5? Try yourself by the tests
Emerson mentions in this paragraph; do you meet them
all?

Paragraph 7: A man of character is a non-conformist.

Is this discussion a natural consequence of that in para
graph 6? Observe "is" in the second sentence. Is Emerson
in this paragraph advising us to be peculiar, or rude?

Paragraphs 8, 9 : What we can do depends, not on our am
bition, but on what we are.

Emerson illustrates this statement from his reading and
observation. Add illustrations from your experience.

Paragraph 10: A man of character grows.

Do you observe growth in the persons of forcible personal
ity whom you know? Could you be greatly impressed by one
who did not seem to you to have a "controlling future"?
Can a person who wishes to be strong afford to cherish ill-

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 289

will? To explain to other persons all the springs of his action?
Illustrate or give reasons for your answers.

Paragraph 1 1 : The man himself is greater than his benevo
lences.

What sentences in this paragraph state the moral that
Lowell's Sir Launfal teaches? Why is approbation dangerous
for us; and why are doubt and suspicion wholesome?

Paragraph 12: Character is above intellectual power.

Explain the metaphor in the first sentence. Do you wonder
that Emerson despaired of expressing his ideal of character?
What does he consider the inspiration of his intellectual
power?

Paragraphs 13-16: A man of character receives his gift
from Nature; he does not depend on the praise or the blame
of others.

Compare with paragraphs 5, 6, 7 above. Can any one be
absolutely indifferent to public opinion? Ought he to be?
Give examples of " divine" men in the world's history; of fa
mous men who were not "divine." Explain clearly the point
of each example given by Emerson in paragraph 16. At the
end of paragraph 16 he says that we cannot "go abroad"
without feeling the influence of such men. Can you give ex
amples from your experience?

Paragraphs 17-21: Men of character are drawn to one
another.

Illustrate from history and observation. See also Friend
ship, paragraph 5. To what person does the last half of para
graph 20 refer particularly — what "youth that owed nothing
to fortune"? Has the life of every great man been, in a
measure, the life, self-sacrifice, and death of this one? Would
Emerson judge a person as having or not having character
partly by his attitude toward such "gods and saints" —

290 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

by his ability to recognize their greatness? See paragraphs 18
and 21. And see Lowell's The Present Crisis.

MANNERS

Paragraph 1: Introductory: Manners and customs differ
among different nations.

Explain the illustrations of Emerson, and add others of
your own.

Paragraph 2: The gentleman is the product of modern civi
lization.

What does Emerson mean by " gentleman" here? Is your
notion exactly like his? Do not think of gentle in this word
as meaning what our adjective gentle means now. The "gen
tles" were the nobles, and the "commons" were the lower
class. Why should the manners of the "gentles" come to be
our ideal manners? What does the phrase noblesse oblige
mean? Why should words originally referring to the "com
mons" (as vulgar, villain, knave) have taken on a bad
moral significance?

Paragraph 3: Some qualities of Emerson's ideal "gentle
man" are named here.

What are these qualities? Why does not Emerson like the
words we have to express the summary of these qualities?
Show that "politics and trade" have with us taken the place
of war. Does this change in social conditions require change
in the character of the gentleman? Compare the mediaeval
knight with the modern gentleman in respect to qualities
named in this paragraph. "The young soldier took his
oath of chivalry; he solemnly swore to defend the church,
to attack the wicked, to respect the priesthood, to protect
women and the poor, to preserve the country in tran-
quility, and to shed his blood, even to the last drop, in

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 291

behalf of his brethren." — (Mill: The History of Chivalry.)
If any of these vows are obsolete in their mediaeval form,
do they stand for universal principles that you can state
in a modern form? For example, the vow to defend the
church. What was the purpose of the church? Is it a gentle
man's duty to defend all institutions that do the work the
church professed to do in the Middle Ages? What was " per
sonal force" called in the last essay you read?

Paragraph 4: Strength, courage, and independence are
qualities of a gentleman.

Discuss Emerson's examples. Add examples from your
own knowledge. Can you think of any that seem to contra
dict his statement? Do you think these three qualities are
necessary to a gentleman? Does Emerson make too much
of " personal force"?

Paragraph 5: Wealth is not necessary to a gentleman.

Would wealth be an advantage or a hindrance to him?
Give as many ways as you can think of in which it would
help or hinder him before you balance your account for your
answer. Is it true that a wealthy person and a poor person
cannot be friends?

Paragraph 6: Manners are the product of society.

Memorize the third and fourth sentences of this paragraph.
State clearly, then, how certain forms come to be regarded
as "good manners." Does Emerson understand truly how
persons of inferior manners feel in the presence of persons
of better breeding? What is the value of manners in
society?

Paragraph 7: Strong men admire and imitate polished men.

State clearly Emerson's theory of this relation in a family
of three generations. Which generation contains the "gen
tleman"? Which the mere " man of fashion"? Do you, from

292 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

your own observations, reach the same conclusion? How
necessary to the gentleman, then, are formal manners?

Paragraph 8: Gentle manners are irresistible, and make
men leaders.

Illustrate from your own experience. Do you observe this
fraternity among persons of the same manners? Is it the
same as "class prejudice" — aristocratic snobbery?

Paragraphs 9-1 1 : Good manners are natural and sincere,
not artificial.

Do you notice in persons "accustomed to good society"
the naturalness and independence of forms mentioned by
Emerson? Have you ever seen or read of such dignity in a
humble person suddenly introduced into formal society?
What is objectionable in a "parvenu" —ignorance or pre
tension? What does Emerson call a man who places all stress
on forms? How does Emerson show that self-reliance is
necessary to real dignity? That truth is also necessary?
Can you give other examples?

Paragraphs 12, 13 : Self-respect and deference are necessary
to good manners.

Illustrate paragraph 12 from customs of our times. In con
nection with paragraph 13 discuss the old sayings, "Famil
iarity breeds contempt" — "No man can be a hero to his
valet." In what words does Emerson express the thought
that "Stillness of person and steadiness of features are signal
marks of good breeding "? Does Emerson deprecate thought
ful care for the comfort of others?

Paragraph 14: Wit is necessary to determine what man
ners are suitable to circumstances.

Notice the summary under the words "kindness" and "in
dependence " of qualities of good breeding already discussed.
What does Emerson say "makes the good and bad of man-

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 293

ners "? What do we mean when we say a person " is all angles
and sharp corners"? Does such a person get on happily with
others? Can a person who wants tact appear kind however
kindly he may feel?

Paragraph 15: The gentleman is not too strenuous.

Illustrate with examples. "Haste can make you slip-shod,
but it can never make you graceful." — Higginson.

Paragraph 16: The gentleman is " good-natured."

How does this quality differ from that discussed in para
graph 14? Illustrate its value from your own observation.

Paragraphs 17, 18: The basis of good manners is benev
olence.

If one has only external manners, is he likely to betray
sometime his cold heart? If he is kind-hearted and thought
ful, will he be likely to commit any serious blunders in his so
cial relations? Nevertheless, have rules and forms of conduct
a certain value? Are they ever burdensome or absurd? Can
you think of any rules of conduct that are not intended to
make us more agreeable to each other, or to express the
benevolence we ought, at least, to feel? Do you think of rules
of etiquette as "an attempt to organize beauty of behavior"?

Paragraph 19: Fine manners do not belong to any one
class of society.

Discuss the relation of manners to character. Which is
better, physical beauty or "beauty of manners"? Have you
ever seen a person that impressed you as the one Emerson
speaks of ("I have seen" etc.) impressed him?

Paragraph 20 : Women have a special instinct for manners.

Discuss and illustrate the doctrines of this paragraph.
With Emerson's quotation compare Wordsworth's She was a
phantom of delight. Name some women who have been to
the social life of their time what Emerson describes, as

294 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Madame de Stae'l. Study thoughtfully the account of Lilla.
Understand every characteristic named by Emerson. Is this
a concrete summary of the essay on Manners?

Paragraph 21 : To persons who have them not, forms seem
to be more than they really are.

What two virtues will take one safely into every society?
Are forms current everywhere? Are the same forms current
everywhere?

Paragraphs 22, 23: After all, it is benevolence that gives
one currency in society. Conventionalities, though some
times useful, are not essential.

Explain the meaning of the fable.

Read thoughtfully Emerson's essay on Behavior. Make a list of
the thoughts identical in the two essays. Make a list of the thoughts
you find in Behavior which you did not find in the essay on Manners.
Memorize and recite in the class at least one fine passage, worth
remembering all your life. Bring into the class at least two passages
which you would like to contradict, discuss, or illustrate by ex
amples.

Outline of Topics Treated in Behavior

Definition of Manners.

They are partly formal.

Influence of manners in society.

The primary use of good manners.

Influence of environment and position on manners.

Relation between power and manners.

Influence of birth on manners.

Expressiveness of the body.

Manners of royal persons.

Importance of manners in business.

Importance of manners in society.

Independence of manners desirable.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 295

Manners and haste incompatible.

Character shows itself in spite of manners.

Manners impressive only as they show personality.

Value of novels in teaching manners.

Heroic manners win confidence.

Manners more potent than beauty.

Relation between benevolence and manners.

It is ill-mannered to talk about unpleasant subjects.

Manners to be taught by principles, not by specific rules.

Write a paragraph on the relation between good manners and
formal manners. Are they necessarily the same? Are they ever
opposed? Cite rules of form not absolutely necessary to good man
ners; cite other rules that are necessary. What is the principle on
which you have decided whether or not the rule is essential? See
the first sentence in paragraph 6 of Behavior.

COMPENSATION

Paragraphs 1-6: Introduction: How long had Emerson
been planning this essay? Why did he wish to write on this
subject? What was the doctrine set forth by the sermon that
occasioned the writing of the essay? Is it commonly held?
What is Emerson's criticism of it as moral teaching? Is it a
doctrine to live by?

Paragraphs 7-9 : Compensation, or balance, is a law of the
natural world.

Can you add examples?

Paragraphs 10-12: In human life and society, every gain
is accompanied by a loss, every loss by a compensating gain.

How many times does Emerson state this truth in an ex
pository sentence? In what figures does he express it? With
what examples does he illustrate it? Add other examples.
Explain the third sentence in paragraph 11. With paragraph

296 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

11 compare Bacon's essay Of Great Place, and these lines
from Lowell's Sir Launfal, Prelude I: —

At the devil's booth are all things sold,
Each ounce of dross costs its ounce of gold;
For a cap and bells our lives we pay,
Bubbles we buy with the whole soul's tasking.

Paragraphs 13-14: Natural laws are universal in opera
tion.

Find all the sentences that express this thought. What
examples are given to prove and illustrate it?

Paragraphs 15-16: The law of compensation is also uni
versal and eternal in its operation.

Explain the third sentence of paragraph 15. How does
Emerson prove that " Justice is not postponed" till the next
world? Explain the quotation from the Greek. How does
Emerson regard punishment for sin? Explain carefully the
figure in the last three sentences of paragraph 16.

Paragraph 17: Men fail to see that, in a well-conducted
universe, the moral must balance the physical.

Add to Emerson's examples.

Paragraph 18 : Men constantly strive for the gain without
the loss.

Illustrate by examples.

Paragraphs 19, 20: But the law of compensation operates
in spite of us.

Explain the figures and illustrations with which Emerson
makes his statement more forcible. Explain the second and
third sentences of paragraph 20.

Paragraphs 21-23: The fables of the race teach the law of
compensation.

Tell, in such a way as to bring out clearly his moral, the

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 297

stories to which Emerson alludes. What is meant by the
third sentence in paragraph 21? Explain the figures in the
last sentence in paragraph 21. With the first sentence of
paragraph 23 compare Lowell's prelude to his Rhcecus. What
does an artist gain by choosing an old story for his subject?
Name some poets that have done this. Name some poems
that are more the product of the race than of any indi
vidual.

Paragraphs 24-26: The proverbs of all nations teach the
law of compensation.

Proverbs grow out of the experience of the race, and are
therefore intended to express truths. Do you understand the
significance in this essay of each of those quoted in paragraph
25? Emerson probably expected us to think for ourselves of
such familiar ones as, " There is no loss without some gain/'
"You can't eat your cake and have it too," and "There are
two sides to every question." Can you make the list still
longer?

Paragraph 27: Find the topic sentence of this paragraph.
How many times is it repeated. Does each repetition make it
clearer? More forcible? Explain the metaphors in the last
two sentences.

Paragraph 28: Find the topic sentence of this paragraph.
How does Emerson illustrate this truth? Find illustrations
of it in your own life and in the society about you.

Paragraphs 29-30: Failure to live up to one's social obliga
tions re-acts on the delinquent person.

Why do men feel afraid of those they have injured? Is
fear as terrible a sign as the figure in paragraph 30 indicates?
Discuss historically the statement that it is "the herald of all
revolutions." If the ruling class were always just and fair,
would there ever be any revolutions?

298 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

Paragraph 31: Superstitious fears come from a sense of
our un worthiness.

Explain the examples used by Emerson.

Paragraphs 32, 33 : We are obliged, willing or unwilling, to
pay our debt to society.

Explain the second sentence in paragraph 32. Is the sense
of obligation as painful as Emerson says it is? Should it be?
Should not one be able to receive gratefully as well as to give
generously? Could a poor person ever associate with a rich
one and live up to this doctrine? Or is Emerson merely
speaking against the selfish policy of "getting all one can"
out of other people and out of society, without any thought
of one's privilege of sharing in the pleasure of giving? With
the third sentence from the last in paragraph 33 compare the
notion of " passing on a kindness to some one else," when
one can make no return to his benefactor.

Paragraphs 34, 35: The law of compensation rules in the
industrial world.

Give examples to show that cheap labor is dear. Did you
ever buy a cheap article that proved to be dear? Would
sweat-shop garments, made in filthy attics by diseased per
sons, be cheap at any price? What moral price does a swin
dler pay for his dishonest gains? If the workman does not
receive a fair price for his wares, what is his compensa
tion?

Paragraph 36 : Crime cannot hide itself.

Explain all the figures in this paragraph. Does the expe
rience of society justify the old saying "Murder will out"?

Paragraph 37: Goodness re-acts upon the actor.

Discuss the quotation, "Indeed, to do the best for others is
finally to do the best for ourselves; but it will not do to have
our eyes fixed on that issue." — Ruskin.

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 299

Paragraph 38: Even a man's faults have their compen
sating advantages.

Study the paragraph carefully, and explain how Emerson
proves this. Add to his examples from your own experience
or observation. What compensation for a quick temper has
a quick person usually in his disposition? What compensa
tion has a conceited person usually? A slow person?

Paragraph 39 : Every affliction and hindrance and tempta
tion has its compensation.

Give a concrete example for each instance named by Emer
son. Do you feel that prosperity is as dangerous as he says
it is? Which would you rather have, the discomforts with
their compensations or the ease with its compensations?
Memorize the last two sentences.

Paragraph 40: No one can really injure a man but himself.

In what sense is no other person able to cheat us? Who is
"the third silent party"? See the next sentence. Do you
believe what is said in the last two sentences?

Paragraph 41: There is compensation for martyrs, victims
of all sorts of persecutions.

Review the history of persecution: does Emerson paint it
in colors too dark? Do any of his remarks refer to conditions
in America in 1841? Have martyrs usually suffered cheer
fully? Can you imagine what compensations have sustained
their spirits in the hour of agony? Have they usually had
faith that their cause would triumph in the end? Does it?
See Lowell's The Present Crisis, stanza 14. Explain the first
sentence. Is the progress of the race natural and inevi
table?

Paragraph 42 : A transitional paragraph,

a. Summarizing the doctrine of compensa
tion;

300 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

b. Introducing the discussion intended to
show that good and evil are not equal in
effect.

Would the discussion of the first 41 paragraphs influence
you to think that it would make no difference whether one
should do good or evil, that the balance of his life would be
the same in either case? If that were Emerson's doctrine,
would the essay have a good moral influence? Would it be
true to the constitution of the universe?

Paragraph 43: Good is positive, active, really existent;
evil is negative, non-existent.

Emerson suggests an analogy between good and light, and
between evil and darkness, or absence of light. Browning uses
another figure to express the same negative character of
evil.

The evil is null, is naught, is silence implying sound.

— BROWNING: Abt Vogler.

Paragraph 44: The compensation for evil that apparently
goes unpunished is in the character of the individual.

Do you feel that this punishment is adequate for any
crime?

Paragraphs 45, 46: There is no moral penalty attached to a
virtuous action; and its great reward is in its effect on char
acter.

Discuss the proverb " Virtue is its own reward." Does
Emerson seem to think that a man is living out his natural
self in living his best self? Compare Hawthorne's tale called
Drowne's Wooden Image: "Yet, who can doubt that the
very highest state to which a human spirit can attain,
in its loftiest aspirations, is its truest and most natural
state."

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 301

With this paragraph compare Lowell's:

'Tis Heaven alone that is given away,
'Tis only God may be had for the asking.

— Sir Launfal, Prelude to Part I.

Can one train himself to care more for this moral reward
than for material rewards? How much is it worth to know
that we are in harmony with the constitution of the universe,
and with the laws of its progress?

Paragraph 47 : Circumstances are comparatively unimpor
tant to one whose mind is fixed on the soul's development.

Are all men created equal? How can a person that has
little learn not to envy one who has much? Explain the third
and fourth sentences from the end of the paragraph.

Paragraphs 48-50: Calamities develop character.

Illustrate this statement by specific examples : what could
a rich man gain by losing his money? what may the loss of
friends do for us? what may physical suffering teach us?
Compare the figure in the third sentence in paragraph 48
with Holmes's The Chambered Nautilus. Does the fourth
sentence in paragraph 48 mean that it is desirable to cultivate
indifference to persons and surroundings? Make sure you
understand the beautiful figure in paragraph 49. Have you
ever observed in life the truth expressed in paragraph 50?
Notice the beautiful and significant figure that closes the
essay.

How much of the compensation for misfortune comes in
the way of character-discipline? What would this essay
mean to a person not seriously interested in the improvement
of his character?

Would this essay influence you at all to decide your actions
on motives based on the expectation of rewards and punish-

302 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

ments? Are such motives high or low? To what extent do
they come into your school-life now? Into other phases of
your life?

Write a paragraph summarizing Emerson's doctrine of compensation.
Write another stating your own point of view.

SELF-RELIANCE

Paragraph 1 : Every man has the thoughts and feelings the
great artist expresses.

Is it your experience that you recognize your own thought
often in the expressions of great men? Can you explain why
this should be so? Do you care much for a piece of art or
literature that does not express your observation or expe
rience? Of course, you may not have put your thought into
words, but you recognize your subconscious thought in the
picture or the poem. Why do you sometimes find yourself
interested in a book to which you were indifferent a year or
two before? What is Emerson's definition of " genius"?
What is the fundamental difference between it and that given
by the great critic, Matthew Arnold: "Genius is mainly an
affair of energy"? Or that given by the painter, Hogarth:
"Genius is nothing but labor and diligence"? Or that given
by the scientist, Buff on: "Genius is nothing but a great
capacity for patience"? Can you see why a scientist should
give Buffon's definition, or an artist give Hogarth's?

Paragraphs 2, 3 : Every man is of unique importance in the
world.

Explain the first sentence in paragraph 2. Compare your
self with others whom you know well; do you find yourself
exactly like them? Or could you, if you would, do something
for society that no other person could do? Compare Heroism,

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 303

paragraph 13. Is the feeling described in paragraph 3 the
same as conceit?

Paragraphs 4, 5 : Independence is natural to man.

Emerson proves his assertion by describing the behavior of
children, and contrasting it with that of grown persons. Does
your observation of the world tally with his? Do you think
that young persons who behave as he describes are un
pleasantly bold?

Paragraph 6: Society demands conformity, not independ
ence.

But self-reliance is a centrifugal force; if society is to be
held together, must it not be by a centripetal force, like con
formity? Is it possible to live so detached a life in the world?

Paragraph 7: The true man judges everything from his
own point of view.

What sort of man should you take Emerson to be from
what he says in this paragraph? What sort of man was he in
his dealings with others? Have you seen such philanthropists
as he describes? Ought you to be prejudiced against a good
cause by their failings? Does Emerson mean that we are
never to take advice? How significant, as a limitation to
this extreme statement, is the clause "when my genius calls
me"? Is it manly to give to a cause in which we have no
interest, simply because we are asked to do so?

Paragraph 8: A man ought not even to do good from a
lower motive.

Have you ever done a good deed to atone for a bad one?
Or " to be seen of men "? Are such motives high?

Paragraph 9: One must "live his own life."

But should one be absolutely indifferent to the opinion of
others? Have you experienced the truth of the third sen
tence? Why is it impossible for another person to understand

304 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

your duty as correctly as you do? Can another person choose
your profession for you? Memorize the last sentence. Name
some such "great" man.

Paragraph 10: Insincere conformity is bad.

What profession did Emerson give up because he could
not sincerely conform to its usages? What is the harm in
such conformity? Explain "one or another handkerchief."
Does the latter part of the paragraph express a common
experience?

Paragraph 11: Non-conformists must brook the rage of
society.

Compare with paragraph 6. Why is the disapproval of the
cultivated classes so much less fearful than that of the
ignorant? In our own small circle of society are we more
critical of those that do not conform in small matters or of
those that disregard great principles?

Paragraphs 12-14: We are afraid of being inconsistent
if we are independent.

The first terror is that explained in paragraph 11. Try to
state clearly the difference between a stubborn consistency
and a reasonable consistency; between a reasonable con
sistency and fickleness. You will make your statements
clearer if you illustrate them by examples. What value
do you give to the saying "Consistency, thou art .a jewel"?
Is the last sentence of paragraph 14 true? Is the great man
ahead of his times? See Lowell, The Present Crisis. In
how far is consistency in social institutions opposed to social
progress?

Paragraphs 15, 16: A man should live out his own nature,
honestly, day by day, and he will be, on the whole, consistent.

Explain the second sentence in paragraph 15; the fourth;
the last two. Explain the figure in paragraph 16 comparing

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 305

life to the path of a ship. Emerson is not in this paragraph
advising us to be shortsighted, but to do every moment what
seems right and best in the light we have at that moment —
not in the light we had yesterday. Explain the doctrine of
"the cumulative force of character."

Paragraphs 17-20: All true men should regard themselves
as the equals of " great men."

The first sentence in paragraph 17 puts aside the two
"terrors" that have just been discussed. With sentences
5 and 6 compare the preparations made in Friendship, para
graph 3. Is it wise for us all to aspire to become "centers"
and "causes"? Is one likely to become what he does not
aspire to be? Emerson advises also, "Hitch your wagon to a
star." If every man has in him the elements of greatness,
why should one be over-awed by a famous man? Every man
may have the dignity of a prince, in character and in self-
respect.

Paragraphs 21, 22: Original, creative action comes from
intuition, which proceeds from the fountain of universal life.
A man's intuitions are, therefore, always to be trusted, and
what he knows by intuition is always true. In matters where
the intuitions guide us, we are not bound to listen to the
teaching of other men. The past has no claim upon a man.

Paragraphs 23, 24: We are too much bound by the tradi
tions of the past.

What civilization was there until recently in China,
where men have said for centuries, " What was good enough
for my father is good enough for me"? Explain the last
two sentences of paragraph 23. Principles are eternal, but
each generation has its own way of expressing them (para
graph 24). This we saw in our discussion of the mediaeval
knight and the modern gentleman, in connection with the

306 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

essay on Manners (paragraph 3). What lines in Lowell's
The Present Crisis express the thought of progress Emerson
has put into this essay?

Paragraph 25 : How can men recognize the leading of this
divine intuition? Are example and experience of no value?
Does it lead one to or from conformity? Is this the feeling
that is higher than reason? (See Heroism, paragraph 5).

Paragraph 26: There is life only in progress.

Memorize the first sentence. Have you ever heard
thoughtful persons say that one cannot stand still when he
is going up the hill of life — that if he is not climbing up
ward he is slipping backward? Notice that the words "plas
tic" and " permeable" in the last sentence imply change,
also.

Paragraphs 27, 28: The power of self-help is necessary to
a complete existence.

How does Emerson show this by examples from nature?
Cite some examples from your own observation of nature,
and from your experience of life.

Paragraphs 29-33: No man must permit himself to be
hindered by others or by the ideals of others.

Does Emerson advise you to become a hermit and abjure
all social duties and responsibilities? Or simply to be "in the
world but not of it"? With paragraph 30 compare the state
ment in Heroism, paragraph 13, that every person has "a
new and untried problem" to solve. He cannot work it out
successfully on rules that apply to other problems. Does
Emerson condemn under the terms "lying hospitality" and
"lying affections" those courteous expressions by which we
sometimes try to disguise an indifference, a vexation, or a
dislike of which we are ashamed? Should we always "speak
our minds" to people? Will the doctrine of one's duty to

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 307

oneself lead a sane, sincere person astray? Have you ever
known unbalanced persons to *harm themselves under what
they supposed to be an application of this principle? Or self-
indulgent persons to make it an excuse for breaking social
laws? Is it a dangerous principle? How can we be certain
we are not self-indulgent or unbalanced when we undertake
to be independent in this way? Is Emerson too pessimistic
in paragraph 33?

Paragraph 34: Self-reliance is necessary in business.

Can you cite examples of persons who have failed because
they had not patience to wait for success, or courage to wring
it from failure? In the lives of great inventors you can
find plenty of examples of men who have had to toil patiently
and courageously for success to which no person but them
selves looked forward with any hope.

Paragraph 35 is transitional, looking forward to coming
topics.

Paragraphs 36-38 : Self-reliance should be practiced in re
ligion.

State Emerson's notion of what prayers are right and
proper, and what are improper. Compare his statement
that there is " prayer in all actions" with Whittier's Snow-
Bound, lines 608-611. In the first half of paragraph 37 is
Emerson unsympathetic and cold-hearted? What words of
Emerson express the thought, "To him that hath shall be
given"? What does Emerson think of the value of formal
creeds? Of the harm they may do? Because a certain creed
satisfied the spiritual need of Calvin or Wesley or John Fox,
does it necessarily satisfy the need of other men? Does his
tory show that men usually place what Emerson would call a
false value on creeds? Should a growing mind expect to cling
to one creed from childhood to old age? Compare paragraphs

308 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

12 to 14. Explain the metaphor in the last sentence of par
agraph 38.

Paragraphs 39^2: We need to be more self-reliant in con
forming to educational ideals.

For a discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of
travel, see the notes on Whittier's The Last Walk in Autumn,
lines 49ff. What great pictures have you seen that prove
that a real artist may take his subjects from the life about
him, however humble it may be? What great poems be
sides Snow-Bound do you know that show that a poet may
write greatly on the simple life he knows at home?

Paragraph 43 : Men must be self-reliant in the choice of a
life-work or profession.

What considerations should determine every young person
in the choice of a profession or business? Should he think
chiefly of how he can make the most money? Of how he can
rise to the best social position? Of how he can make the most
for himself and society of such talents as he has? Who is to .
make the choice? If parents have studied the characters and
dispositions of their children faithfully, can they give them
material help in choice of a life-work?

Paragraph 44 is transitional; refer to paragraph 35, and
to the coming topic.

Paragraphs 45^8: We need to be self-reliant in our modes
of living — in our social relations.

How is the law of " compensation " shown in paragraphs
45 and 46? Is it true that society, after all its centuries of
struggle, has made no real progress? Are all our boasted com
forts and conveniences of no real value? What harm can
there be in " improving machinery"? And have we no
higher moral ideals than men of a thousand years ago? Is it
nothing that we have abolished slavery and ceased to practice

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 309

religious persecution, and a hundred other evils? Explain
the metaphor in paragraph 48.

Paragraph 49 : Men must learn to be independent of prop
erty and of the support of other men.

Is the statement made in the third sentence correct? Is
this a loss that compensates a rich man for the advantages
he gains through his wealth? Is a real man content to be
judged by what he has? Ought a " self-made man" to be
judged by his wealth any more than a man of inherited
means? Is there no advantage in numbers — in belonging to
a large party, or society, or club? To what extent is the work
of society carried on through such agencies? Does a man who
belongs to such an organization sacrifice anything of his own
individuality?

Paragraph 50: Men must learn to be independent of cir
cumstances, and think only of the working of great social and
spiritual laws.

Memorize the last two sentences.

CULTURE
I. Read the essay carefully with the following outline.

A. Introduction:

I. The Purpose of Culture:

To develop symmetrically all our .powers. Memorize para
graph 9.

II. Opposites of Culture:

1. Narrowness:

a. In intellectual matters;

b. In social relations.

2. Egotism, manifested by:

a. A desire to be noticed and admired;

b. An exaggerated opinion of our own importance.

310 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

B. Body: There are four sources of culture: books, travel, society,
solitude (paragraph 11).

I. Books.

1. Advantages of formal, school education:

a. The value of training is universally acknowledged;

b. Education should not be reformatory merely, but pre

ventive;

c. Familiarity with great books prevents one from becoming

egotistic.

2. Books are not the only instruments of education — games

and amusements are necessary:

a. They broaden one's view of life;

b. If practiced, they will not seem to be too important.

II. Travel.

1. Advantages of travel:

a. It brings broader knowledge of world and people;

b. It brings one into contact with great men;

c. It furnishes new interests and resources.

2. Limitation to the advantages of travel:

a. It draws away power that should be used at home;

b. There is not so much that is novel in foreign lands —

men are men the world over.

III. Society.

1. Advantages of society (city life):

a. It brings one into contact with things and persons worth

knowing;

b. It teaches quiet, unpretentious manners.

2. Limitations in society:

a. It forces trifles on our attention;

b. It brings us into contact with persons not helpful

to us.

IV. Solitude.

1. Advantages of solitude (country life, quiet room, etc.):
a. It gives one opportunity to regain poise and cultivate
individuality;

RALPH WALDO EMERSON 311

b. It releases one from petty cares, and gives one time to

see life in its proper proportions;

c. It gives one time to cultivate some artistic taste;

d. It gives one time to study thoroughly his trade or pro

fession.

e. Even involuntary solitude — social ostracism for opinion

or principle, for non-conformity — is good discipline,
and cultivates self-reliance.

2. Why does Emerson name no losses to compensate the gains
from solitude? Is IV 1, sufficiently balanced by III 1?
Does the absence of a discussion that would, if pres
ent, fill IV 2, suggest that Emerson is particularly im
pressed by the advantages of " solitude"? What does
his own life suggest in this connection?
C. Concluding paragraphs:

1. Heredity plays its part in the culture of the individual.

2. The race is cultivated through all its experiences.

II. Has Emerson succeeded in making you feel that in
tellectual one-sidedness is deformity? If so, how?

With Emerson's discussion the students may compare that of
Matthew Arnold in Sweetness and Light (found in a volume called
Culture and Anarchy}.

After reading Culture the class should turn to The American Scholar.
A brief outline of the essay is given below, and the students should
consult also Cooke, pages 59 and 60, and Holmes, pages 107 to 115.

A. Preface: the occasion; the subject (paragraphs 1, 2).

B. Introduction: The man is more than his trade or profession

(paragraphs 3-7).

C. Body:

I. Influences that form the scholar (paragraphs 8-28) :

1. nature;

2. books;

3. action.

312 STUDIES IN AMERICAN LITERATURE

II. Duties of the scholar (paragraphs 29-35) ;

III. Application of these ideas to our own country and times

(paragraphs 36-43).
D. Conclusion.

If it is accessible, the class will also be interested in George
William Curtis's oration on The Leadership of Educated Men.

APPENDIX

I. A LIST OF ESSAY SUBJECTS

The subjects in the following list have been found very useful
as work supplementary to the study of the history of American liter
ature. For older students they have been used as subjects for essays
and reports. For less mature students they should be rather topics
for class conversation and study, expanding the most interesting
topics hi the text-books.

1. Interesting Tales from Early Documents of Virginia.
Material in Stedman and Hutchinson, Library of American Litera
ture, I.

2. Stories of Colonial Days in New England.

Material in Stedman and Hutchinson I. Has this material literary
value?

3. Jonathan Edwards.

Judge him by the selections from his works published in Stedman and
Hutchinson II.

4. Examples of Self-reliance and Self-direction from the Auto
biography of Benjamin Franklin.

5. The Good Advice of "Poor Richard."

6. The Writings of Thomas Paine.
Material in Stedman and Hutchinson III.

7. The Orators of the Revolution.

The text-book should give a starting-point. See also biographies,
histories, and Stedman and Hutchinson III.

313

314 APPENDIX

8. Our National Songs.

The text-book on history of American literature should give a
starting-point.

9. New York as a Literary Center.

Histories of American literature and biographies of men will furnish
material.

10. Influence on Irving's Work of his Youthful Travels on the
Hudson.

See Life and Letters of Irving, edited by Pierre Irving, Vol. I,
chapters 2 and 3. Compare with stories and sketches relating to the
Hudson in Irving's works.

11. Old Christmas Customs in Merry England.

The Sketch Book. Find origin and history of customs if you have the
material in your library

12. Irving' 's Attitude toward the Indian.

The Sketch Book. Knickerbocker's History of New York.

13. English Life as Portrayed in Bracebridge Hall.

14. Irving's Power of Description as Shown in The Sketch Book.

15. The Humor and Pathos of The Sketch Book.

16. Why some Descendants of Old Dutch Families were Offended by
Knickerbocker's History of New York.

17. An Illustrated Paper on The Alhambra.

18. The Romance of the North-west as Told in Irving's Astoria.

19. The Influence of Spain on Irving.
See biographies, criticisms, and works.

20. Irving as a Writer of Biography and History.

Enumerate his books of this sort and tell how they are regarded.
Make a more careful study of one, as Washington, Columbus, The
Conquest of Granada, or Goldsmith.

APPENDIX 315

21-24. The Style and Purpose of Irving' s Tales.

Think over the following extract from one of Irving's letters. "For
my part, I consider a story merely as a frame, on which to stretch the
materials. It is the play of thought, and sentiment, and language; the
weaving in of characters, lightly yet expressively delineated; the familiar
and faithful exhibition of scenes in common life; and the half-concealed
vein of humor that is often playing through the whole, — these are
among what I aim at, and upon which I felicitate myself in proportion as
I think I succeed." With this ideal in mind, study four of Irving's tales:

21. Rip Van Winkle.

22. The Legend of Sleepy Hollow.

23. The Spectre Bridegroom.

24. Dolph Heiliger.

Has Irving accomplished his purpose in these tales? How?
Notice how he emphasizes local color and social setting.

(It might be well to defer this topic till after the class has studied
the short-stories of Poe and Hawthorne. They will then be able
to say why Irving's tales are not exactly short-stories.)

25. Bryant and Abolition.

See index to Godwin's Life; Bryant's prose; his poems written during
the Civil War; Lowell's On Board the 76.

26. Bryant as a Writer on American Nature.

How his nature poems illustrate his advice to his brother (Letter of
Feb. 19, 1832): "I saw some lines by you to a skylark. Did you ever
see such a bird? Let me counsel you to draw your images, in describing
Nature, from what you observe around you, unless you are confessedly
composing a description of some foreign country, when, of course, you
will learn what you can from books. The skylark is an English bird, and
an American who has never visited Europe has no right to be in raptures
about it."

27. Bryant's Style in his Blank Verse Poems.

Summary of points of style in poems studied in detail: a. Character
of thought; b. Rhetorical devices used to express the thought effectively.

316 APPENDIX

Contrast with these in tone and style other nature poems, as Green
River and June, not written in blank verse.

28. Poe's Criticisms of Longfellow and Bryant.

29. Poe's Critical Work on Hawthorne.

30. Poe's William Wilson and Stevenson's Dr. Jekyl and Mr.
Hyde.

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